Marks on Monkey Pod Slab

[Malia Gregory]

Hi Everyone,
I'm brand new to this and could really use some help. I'm sure these are very dumb questions, but I'm an old lady--please don't make fun of me. I bought the most beautiful monkey pod slab and am in the middle of sanding it to make a headboard. My questions are:

• What are the brown horizontal lines that look like burn marks? Can they be sanded out?
• As I sand the lighter colored part of the wood, huge chunks are coming off. This part of the wood feels very soft, and I can almost break chunks off with my hand. Is that normal? Do I just keep sanding until it's gone?
• There are parts of the slab that look like stains. Should I use oxalic acid on those parts?
• My desired result is showcasing the beautiful figuring and grain as much as possible, but I don't want it to be super shiny. I was planning on using Waterlox OSF to finish. Then sealing it with water-based poly. Is that a good idea?

I really appreciate any advice. Thank you so much!
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[John TenEyck]

Those horizontal marks in the first photo are from the tooling used to flatten the slab. I'm not sure what the cross grain marks are in the second photo; perhaps the same type of marks from the first pass. In any case, you need to sand, plane, or scrap all those marks away if you want the wood to look its best. The lighter wood that's breaking away is sapwood. If it's really weak you may want to just bust it off completely and then clean up the remaining edges with a draw knife, grinder, etc. It's certainly not adding to the beautify of the piece.

I would not put WB poly over Waterlox. There's no reason to either; Waterlox is beautiful and very durable. If it's too shiny just wait 3 or 4 weeks after you have applied the last coat and then rub it out with 0000 steel wool and paste wax. It will have a beautiful satin sheen.

John

[Stan Calow]

Whatever you choose to use for a finish, try it on a test piece first. Some things you might use will change the color and appearance either for the better or worst. Don't let the name fool you: Waterlox (Original Sealer and Finish) is a varnish, thin enough to go on easily, but is tough enough to protect on its own. But it adds an amber tone, you might or might not want. I'd wait and see what things look like after you sand things down flat. Some of those marks and "stains" should disappear.

[Tom Bender]

You have a significant sanding task there. Be patient.