Hi

Well, happy birthday to us! Well, to the Newsletter anyway, we’re six years old today! That means we’ve dealt with nearly a thousand questions – and still more come in! Some of you have been here since the beginning, some have only just joined. Either way, thank you for reading these ramblings.
I’m out and about next week, up to Red Rose Woodturners on Monday night, then to Wherry Woodturners on Wednesday. I hope your week ahead isn’t quite as hectic!

I had a call from someone this week who had made a segmented light pull. He’d used ebony and a lighter coloured wood species to get a great contrast. Once made, he used Cellulose Sanding Sealer as usual to seal the piece, but wasn’t happy with the result. The sealer had lifted some of the colour from the ebony, and ‘stained’ the other timber. Sadly, this was to be expected, the solvents in the sealer are quite strong and can have this effect.
He was able to cut the sealer back and recover the piece, but what to do next? The answer is quite simple, and is the same advice as when using stains on wood. The aerosol sealers are the best bet here, as they hit the surface and dry where they land. Without the mechanical contact of a brush or cloth dragging across the surface, the colour of the wood, or any re-activated stain, stay where they supposed to.

Another question asked about black spots appearing in a piece of beech after it was sanded. To be fair, my correspondent already had a very strong idea about what was happening. They’d changed the abrasive they were using, opting for something a little cheaper, and suspected that the black spots were, in fact, being caused by the abrasive shedding grit. I agreed, this seemed the most likely cause, as it was the only thing that in the process that had been changed.
It brings to mind a question that often comes up at demos, should a Tack Cloth be used between each change of abrasive grade. This is done to remove any errant grit, to which my response is that, if the paper is leaving grit behind, throw it away! This shouldn’t be happening, a good quality abrasive should not shed any grit. The Tack Cloth is to remove sanding dust, not anything else.
Taking this to its logical conclusion, any grit would stick to the Tack Cloth… turning the Tack Cloth into an abrasive sheet! Just not a consistent one – instead, it’ll probably just add some lovely scratches to your work!

Our last question this week is about refinishing a rosewood table; is Cellulose Sanding Sealer a good place to start? I was inclined to say no; whilst it’s probably dry by now, rosewood can be oily, and this can cause problems for sealers and lacquers. Plus, the table in question was a full size dining table, so getting a good finish with a cellulose product can be difficult unless it’s being sprayed. Obviously, a hard-wearing, resilient finish is needed, so I suggested our Hard Wax Oil. It gives a very tough surface, with a good gloss, or, if required, a satin finish. It’s easy to apply, and relatively quick drying.

And that’s it from me for this week. I’m looking forward to taking it easy this weekend, getting ready for lots of travelling in the week to come. Maybe I’ll be seeing you – if so, do come and say hello!
If our paths don’t cross before, I’ll see you back here next week.

Terry