why all the scratches

[Vito De Francisco]

Hi WW
Earlier this year I acquired a whole lot of table tops that were from the old Gimble's furniture store. I got these from an old long retired furn. maker. I mean a whole basement load. They have been sitting there for 15 to 20 years all stacked up neatly and ready for the taking. And so I did. These tops have a finish on them but that'a no big deal. All sizes and shapes and thickness. Most of them seem to be birch as they are white when the finish is removed. A light cut on the planer does a good job.
I just finished making a table out of said material and was trying out different colors of stain. I am useing Watco oil finish. A combo of first golden oak and then Drk. walnut with a quick wipe off gives me the color that I was looking for. My problem is that it seems as though this wood absorbs the stain in some areas almost like a soft wood would do. I did try a pre stain and I believe it is going to help a little. But as far as sanding this wood, I thought I did a pretty good job, but I can still see scratch marks once the stain is applied. I sanded with up to 220 grit and then even tried 320 next. But it is awful hard to get rid of the marks after the 220 grit is used. It seems as though just certain areas only get the scratch marks. I cannot figure this out. When the sandpaper starts to get build up on it , I quickly change to a new piece. Has anyone ever experienced this problem. Oh, by the way, the wood was free :D

[Steve Schoene]

Part of what you are seeing is the natural tendancy of birch to splotch. Any oil based stain is likely to do this. There are several solutions. One is to use a water mixed dye for the coloration. The other is to use a gel stain. The dye works by penetrating everywhere, the gel by penetrating no where.

I'm not sure about the scratches--are these ROS swirls or linear scratches. If the latter, then the solution is likely to do more rough sanding with 80 or 100 grit that you continue until you have a even mat sheen, even with side racking light. Then you can quickly work through the grits to 220. Another thing to do is to brush or vacuum carefully between each grit. It is not unknown for a stray coarse grit to make scratches when sanding with a finer grit.

By the way, scratches are emphasized more by pigmented stains than by dyes.