Help with sanding after staining.

[Steve Wurster]

These pieces were stained before assembly with multiple coats of Varathane Classic Black. Some sanding was needed post assembly, but now the stain will simply not "take". The wood grain remains very visible, even after multiple additional coats. Is this simply a matter of grit, and is there a way I can fix this without resanding the entire length of the pieces?

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[John TenEyck]

Maybe you got glue on those areas during assembly? If multiple coats worked before assembly, that's the only thing I can think of. If so, the only way to get an even color again is to sand it enough to remove the glue. You may need to sand the full length of the parts to get a uniform result when you restain. Try the whole process, including the glue, to see if you can get a uniform result with just spot sanding.

I know lots of people prefer to stain and finish before glue up, but your tale is why I almost never do. There's no room for error, and errors are hard to fix. Good luck.

John

[Steve Wurster]

Maybe you got glue on those areas during assembly? If multiple coats worked before assembly, that's the only thing I can think of. If so, the only way to get an even color again is to sand it enough to remove the glue. You may need to sand the full length of the parts to get a uniform result when you restain. Try the whole process, including the glue, to see if you can get a uniform result with just spot sanding.

I know lots of people prefer to stain and finish before glue up, but your tale is why I almost never do. There's no room for error, and errors are hard to fix. Good luck.

John

There might have been some glue on the front spot before post-assembly sanding, but definitely not on the top part. That lighter section on the top is purely from sanding after assembly, unfortunately. Sanding those areas back down to bare or near-bare wood is going to be a pain. The front will be easy to sand, but unfortunately it's a lot of frame to cover. Hopefully I can get away without sanding all of it. Sanding the top will be more difficult because I don't want to touch that panel at all, and I have to sand right up to that vertical piece. Ugh.

I stained before assembly because I did not want to have to stain the inside of the pieces after assembly. Getting inside the cabinet and not messing up the staining after assembly was going to be near impossible. Staining after assembly would have required taping everything off, which of course could have been doable but seemed like a lot more work than staining before assembly.

The entire assembly went smoothly except for this joint, which is unfortunately right in front on the finished piece. I think a few pieces were just ever so slightly out of alignment when I did the joinery (loose tenon). I should have just left it alone and not tried to sand anything, as the overall look is "rustic" enough that it would have been fine even with it being a little off. Oh well... now I have to fix this.

[Kent A Bathurst]

Sanding those areas back down to bare or near-bare wood is going to be a pain.

Yeah, well - Welcome to my spot on the vagaries-of-woodworking time-space continuum. Plenty of room for more.

Do you think that maybe you could negotiate the seam between the frame and the panel with a card scraper rather than sandpaper?

I've also used a wide [1-1/2"] sharp chisel held skewed, and close to vertical, as a detailed-control scraper with good results. Or a different size, as needed.

Maybe clamp [somehow] a guiderail along that seam to keep the scraper/chisel out of the tall grass.

Good luck - I'd be interested in your solution and it's "success" - I'll need that information one day.

[Steve Wurster]

Yeah, well - Welcome to my spot on the vagaries-of-woodworking time-space continuum. Plenty of room for more.

Do you think that maybe you could negotiate the seam between the frame and the panel with a card scraper rather than sandpaper?

I've also used a wide [1-1/2"] sharp chisel held skewed, and close to vertical, as a detailed-control scraper with good results. Or a different size, as needed.

Maybe clamp [somehow] a guiderail along that seam to keep the scraper/chisel out of the tall grass.

Good luck - I'd be interested in your solution and it's "success" - I'll need that information one day.

I have thought about using a card scraper instead of a sander / sandpaper. I also thought about clamping a block of material on top of the panel where it meets the frame to completely eliminate touching the frame in any fashion.

I was out of town for a few days so I haven't yet gotten back to this, but I plan on really taking a look at it today.