High Grit Sanding on Wood

I recently sold a razor and the person made some suggestions on finishing the scales. The razor was posted here a few weeks ago. He explained to me to try sanding the scales to higher grit. I have always just gone to 400, but instead I tried another set and sanded up to 1K because that was the highest grit I have. All I can say is wow. The next sets I finish I am going to take them all the way to 2000-2500 because I was so amazed at the smoothness it gave to the wood. I am sure all the pros here already knew this. I just figured the new people to restoring might find this beneficial. Special thanks to AirColorado (Dave) for pointing this out.

Very useful in fact!
I'm just fiddling with a pair of old dark horn scales and bet there applies the same.
Thank you!

Try using a glass after you get the wood as smooth as you think is possible....
I use a thick walled shot glass to burnish scales... Just rub the scales down with the glass I think you will be rather pleased with the results....

Are you talking about sanding the bare wood? I never sand bare wood higher that 220, if I am going to be applying a film forming finish. If I am using an oil or in the wood finish I will sand to a higher grit 400. If you are talking sanding the finish the sky is the limit on grits and polish.

A film type of finish will have greater adhesion if there is a little bit of tooth to hold on to. Most finishes will fill the scratch pattern of 150 - 220 grit with no problem at all. If you put a film forming (varnish,CA,shellac,epoxy) on an extremely smooth piece of wood it will adhere by mostly chemically bonding and have little mechanical grip. This can cause adhesion and flaking problems down the line.

Charlie

I have always sanded a little up to 400, then used Danish Oil for two trips. Then one last sanding after the second soaking in Danish oil then finishing with Tung oil. From now on though I am going to do the same for the first coats of Danish oil, then do two coats of Tung oil, then sand up to 2500 and ten do one final coat. I agree that if you do just the unfinished wood it would not work very well because there would be little mechanical bonding. I just noticed that I went back on some scales that had three coats of tongue oil and sanded them to 1K and now they actually been like I am holding something that doesn't have any grain to it at all, it feels perfectly smooth. I am going to try glass as Glen suggested also on my next set of scales.

If you are finishing with oils, do yourself a favor and sand to 2000 grit and then use Micromesh up to 12000 grit. That stuff will leave a glass finish on bare wood. One caveat: If you don't remove previous grit scratch lines before moving to the next grit, you will see them BIG TIME with this stuff.

I always sand up to 1000 grit and then wet the wood with water. Then I dry the wood by moving it continually over the stove so that it gets the heat but doesn't scorch. All of the grain ends that felt so smooth before will now rise up and your scale will feel very rough. Re-sand with 1000 grit until it is smooth and re-apply the water and heat. Do this several times until the grain no longer rises. Then give it a final sanding.

Regards - Walt

The only person who has posted here whom I %100 agree with is Charlie.
How, when and with what grit you sand depends a lot on the wood you're working with. Also, please do not confuse prep sanding with finish sanding. Definitions:

Prep Sanding: What you do to the bare wood before applying any finishing products. This step also includes grain raising. This step goes to 400 grit MAX for the reasons Charlie outlined. Burnishing (the rubbing with a glass that Glen mentioned) should only be done if you're using an oil or other penetrating finish, and it is done preferably during or shortly after the first coat. Sanding to a higher grit or burnishing before appling the finishing products will cause poor and uneven absorption and adhesion.

Rubbing Out: This is what you do after you've applied all the finising products and have let them cure completely. Here you use sandpaper, pumice, rottenstone, compounds etc. to get the surface even and to the desired shean. In the case of oil finishes, it'll be like sanding very hard wood.

When using pours woods (like oak), sand down through 800, apply your oil to the wood and sand it again while it is wet. The wood pulp works into a slurry in the oil finish and fills the pores woods pores. You essentially make a sanding sealer from the wood you are sanding. Let it dry, repeat, let it dry then dry sand with 800 again then put on you final coat with no wet sanding. It will get be baby bottom smooth. Old wood working trick.


Now if you are sanding between coats of finish, that is a little different. Depending on the finish you may not want to go higher than 400 grit. Some finishes, like epoxy, need a physical bond with the previous coat of finish. Sanding to fine will not give your enough mechanical bonding and the layers can de-laminate.

There is a big difference in the finish of someone who knows how to sand and someone who does not.

I don't like most wood finishes, I just dont use 'em

-just a little wipe on poly, occasionally oil, usually burnished and waxed is good enough for me