Hall table finish stage 1 complete, stage 2 started
I spend the other night sanding down the table top. I ran the ROS at 120 and then 220. The sides I did by hand with a sanding block the same way. Smooth as butta after the sanding. Then I took it inside and did the dye. Eight drops of transtint vintage maple into a dixie cup of Zinser wax free shellac. I layered it on a bit thick since I knew I was going to be taking a sanding to it anyway. If it dried with some runs it would just come out.
Tonight I went to work sanding it down. I started out with just 220 grit, but it wasn’t doing the job. I moved back down to 120 and then repeated with 220. It sanded out pretty quickly and you could really tell how the end grain had soaked up the color. The maple really seems to sand down to such a glass smooth surface where the walnut always had a little grainy feel to it. I guess this is just part of the learning to work with the woods.
Of course with some good comes some bad. I noticed this with the walnut base. I find somehow during sanding/finishing I’m putting indentations into the wood. Small little divets. I also then found a couple of tearout places that didn’t come out. I don’t know how I missed it all the way up to now. I’m not sure what to do about it. I’ve already had the top thinner than I wanted. I think I’m going to just go with it. It’s very hard to see unless you’re all over it like I am sanding/finishing it. The finish actually helps hide it as it darkens the wood and with all that end grain doing funny effects. I’m just worried about how much sanding it would take to clean it all out and I don’t want to go back to the mill for have it run through the sander again.
So the first coat of Seal-A-Cell went on. It looks really good and I’m beyond psyched. I can’t wait to get more coats on there and get to the Arm-R-Seal. I am worried about the sanding between coats, but this what learning is for.
Here are links to the before/after the dye stage.