It is best that the wood is sanded to 320 grit because this leaves it satin smooth to the touch without closing up the grain so tightly that it won’t easily accept the color. The preferred progression of grits on unfinished, milled wood is 100, 120, 150, 180, 240, 320. However, everyone has their own comfort level with what grit they want to stop sanding. And most likely this goes without saying, but of course you should always sand with the grain and not across it.
Remove all sanding dust from your wood by either blowing it out with an air compressor, sucking it out with a high-intensity vacuum cleaner hose attachment or by sweeping it out with a soft, clean, dry brush. The air compressor is hands-down the most effective method.
Once you have sanded your wood to the highest grit that you’ve decided is appropriate for your project, you need to “raise the grain” if you are using a water-based chemical or dye. This is because when liquid is applied to your finish-sanded wood, small fibers will kick up—rise up—which will give the wood a slightly rough, furry feel when you run your hand across it. You want to mitigate the effects of this happening when you apply the color by intentionally raising the grain in advance. Then you will lightly sand these nibs off. Nonetheless, the grain will still rise when you apply the coloring but it won’t be as severe.
It is imperative that you sand your project’s scrap wood. You will need this scrap wood as test pieces for your formulas. It is more difficult to determine the true color effect of chemicals and dyes on unsanded scrap wood.
Even if you want to maintain a sharp edge on the wood you are about to color, you still need to gently break the edges with sandpaper so that the color can penetrate. Otherwise there is no surface area on that edge for the color or finish to adhere to, and you will be left with a visible line where the edge grain and face grain meet.
You can always use a UV light to inspect your wood for glue squeeze-out and fingerprints.
Fresh sandpaper is too aggressive for de-whiskering the wood after raising the grain. Take two pieces of the highest grit you used last and rub them against each other to knock the newness off . . . or just older, worn sandpaper of the highest grit you last used.
Also, don’t sand with steel wool because steel wool fibers may break off and lodge in the wood—especially in open grain woods—and if you use a water-based coloring process or clear coat finish, the steel wool fibers can rust.
It is a pretty safe bet to say that despite raising the grain, there will still be whiskers after applying your color. Therefore, you don’t want to do any sanding or de-whiskering until after you put your first coat of clear finish on because you run the risk of sanding through the color.
Sand very lightly with worn-out 400 grit sandpaper.
Tack rags do not get the dust out of the valleys in opened-grain woods and also they might leave a residue behind that will interfere with the finish.
If you are finishing your wood with an oil/varnish blend after coloring it, then apply one coat of the finish after the color solution has dried, following the directions on the can regarding how long to wait before wiping it off. Let it dry overnight. Totally flood the surface with your second coat and wet-sand it with 600 to 800 grit sandpaper in one long sweep—end to end across your project—rather than spot sanding. This will result in a much smoother finish after you remove the excess.
In order to present an accurate comparison of the color effects of different processes, all the wood samples in this book were finished with the same clear coat finish process. This process used Deft Lacquer Sanding Sealer and Deft Clear Wood Finish Satin Lacquer that come in spray cans. Because lacquer dries quickly, airborne particles don’t have much time to attach to it, which leads to a smoother finish with less sanding required. And satin lacquer photographs well!
Lacquer is an evaporative finish, just like shellac. Each coat melts into the previous coat. They don’t layer on top of each other, like a varnish or a poly finish will. Because successive coats melt into each other, you get a perfect mechanical bond.
Hold the can about two inches above the wood and spray in a sweeping motion, beginning to spray before reaching the wood and ending the spray after passing beyond its edges. If you hold the can too high, the lacquer will evaporate before it hits the wood. Spray with swift confidence and always keep a fifty percent overlay with each pass! Spray in a cross-hatch pattern: first with the grain, and then across the grain.
Bear in mind that when using lacquer, you always spray the edges first and then spray the face of a project. Why? Because if you spray the face first and it’s flawless, then you run the risk of having over-spray ruin that surface finish when you spray the sides and edges. Even though coats of lacquer melt into each other, over-spray is not going on wet enough to maintain that flawless finish. You will feel the over-spray when it dries.
After the sanding sealer has dried, sand the samples with worn-out 400 grit paper, applying very light pressure as you sand from one end to the other. Avoid spot sanding as it could leave marks.
The samples were subsequently sprayed with three coats of Deft clear satin lacquer. Lacquer should never dry in the sun because it is susceptible to “solvent entrapment” whereby the lacquer “skins over” before the solvent has completely off-gassed. This may lead to a blistered finish with tiny pimples.
The faster a finish dries, the less opportunity for airborne particles to attach to it. This is why the furniture industry usually chooses lacquer, because there’s little to no sanding involved.