First attempt contrast

[Aurora North]

Hey everyone. I have been lurking and reading up on finishing and slowly trying to amass all the needed things. I still don't have the fiebings dyes, but I wanted to try anyway. This sample was done with Mohawk blue and perfect brown penetrating stain.

There is no shellac coat because I still needed to order flakes, but I couldn't resist giving it a go. Please critique my sanding job and staining. I feel I removed too much color when sanding back through higher grits. Would sealing the under-stain with shellac help this? I was unsure if you guys are doing a shellac seal coat between the different colors or doing the undercoat using alcohol and the top stain as oil of water base and then shellacking.

My test method based on what I currently have available to me...

Quilted Maple

side 1:

150
180
220
320, stain perfect brown
400, stain perfect brown
600, stain perfect brown
800, stain blue
1200
3600 up to 12000 using 3m pads and white diamond buff in between finishing off with carnauba wax

side 2:
same as above, but just reverse the stain colors through all steps.

No shellac as of yet; waiting on my order to come in.

side 1: perfect brown under stain, blue top stain.






side 2: blue under stain, perfect brown top stain.

[sandahlpipe]

The proof is in the pudding. Do you have a picture to show what it looks like?

[Aurora North]

I took some pictures today on my phone during lunch and tried to upload them. The files were too large so I'll get them up tonight when I get to my computer and resize them or rehost them. Sorry about that!

[baweaverpipes]

Sanding beyond 600 is folly.

[PremalChheda]

Sanding beyond 600 is folly.

Depends on what type of sand paper is used.

The European Pxxx are of different grit than the USA standards. 600 usa = P1000 or something like that.

Also, if you are using micro mesh pads, the equivalents are much different. 3500 mm is like P1000

[Aurora North]

Okay, finally got the pictures up from my phone; a serious pain in the ass. But anyway, yeah I had read in a bunch of the threads here that most guys sand up to 600 or 800 tops. One or two mentioned going to 1200 on occasion and some calling it done as low as 400.

I just figured that since I bought the stuff already I might as well experiment with some samples just to see for myself. And I figured that because I don't have my shellac yet, polishing the wood as much as I could might help? I had read that the wood will begin to shine on its own so i wanted to see what that would look like before doing a sample with shellac.

Anyway, I'm hoping you guys can pick apart the photos for me. Be however brutal you feel you must. I just want to improve my technique before I actually take this to a real piece.

The pads I am using are 3M. They are about 2" x 2"

[Tyler]

Since you are experimenting with something other than briar, the experiment is only marginally helpful. Briar is a fairly unique wood.

My sanding:

36 grit shaping
120 grit
220 grit
400 grit
Under stain
Buff off with white
Take buffing compound off with 600
Top stain
Polish

[Aurora North]

Thanks for the information Tyler. AND for this amazing resource you've put together for us!

I had seen your post in a thread about 10 pages back about your method and saved it to my notes. I'm definitely going to give your method a go.

I was thinking the same thing today at work about the differences of the wood. There really is no comparison to briar. Truly one of the most beautiful grains I have seen and worked with. Only problem is I only have one piece at the moment!

I think I was more interested to see what you experienced guys thought about the sanding and staining. Whether i left behind scratches and such. And how blotchy and uneven the staining was. After doing this first sample I'm already thinking about how to be more careful with controlling the sanding in order to leave certain areas with more stain in the grain with the hope of producing a more balanced contrast throughout.

Thanks again. I truly appreciate the sharing of your experience and knowledge!

[Tyler]

Thanks for the information Tyler. AND for this amazing resource you've put together for us!

I had seen your post in a thread about 10 pages back about your method and saved it to my notes. I'm definitely going to give your method a go.

I was thinking the same thing today at work about the differences of the wood. There really is no comparison to briar. Truly one of the most beautiful grains I have seen and worked with. Only problem is I only have one piece at the moment!

I think I was more interested to see what you experienced guys thought about the sanding and staining. Whether i left behind scratches and such. And how blotchy and uneven the staining was. After doing this first sample I'm already thinking about how to be more careful with controlling the sanding in order to leave certain areas with more stain in the grain with the hope of producing a more balanced contrast throughout.

Thanks again. I truly appreciate the sharing of your experience and knowledge!

Glad I could help a little.

[Aurora North]

Quick Question...

I've done a couple more of these samples just to play with the stains and base color/ top color combinations. I am using all alcohol based stain so I do have the problem of the two bleeding together.

How do you guys work with the feibings dyes? I'm ordering the full set of 4oz off ebay from Kurt this week. As I understand it they are alcohol based dyes. Or do they also come in an oil based form? I had read somewhere on here to use an alcohol based stain as the base color then use an oil based stain over top to prevent the colors from bleeding together. Is this correct?

And if the feibings are only offered in alcohol, what do you guys use for oil based dyes?