Blotchy looking finish

what are using under your poly coat? i use tung oil first and then put a poly over it, works pretty well up here in the mountains.

-- Roper - master of sawdust-

we arent using anything under the poly

-- Tim & Candy Hicks Custom Log Furniture www.rockymountain-twist.com Dust... What Dust

With the punky wood, perhaps a two part epoxy sealer coat. Sean Clarke, a professional finisher and frequent FWW contributor uses “Smith & Company’s MultiWoodPrime (also called Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer)” as a first step for outdoor projects. I would think that this might not sink in so quick and would reinforce the structural integrity of the punky wood. I’ve never done this myself, but I know Bob2 uses epoxy to reinforce punky wood during bowl turning and I’m just “thinking aloud” about your problem.

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

another problem that we have had with the punky wood is with inlaying. We usually take out the worst of the punky wood and fill with inlay, but there is a always some punky wood left. Anyway, when we are sandind down the stones the dust gets into the punky wood and discolors it. Should we try adding the sealer to the wood first before we inlay adn can you resand the sealer so that you get an even finish?

-- Tim & Candy Hicks Custom Log Furniture www.rockymountain-twist.com Dust... What Dust

Great suggestion Douglas. I have used CA to help seal punky wood on bowls as well. I think if you applied it prior to inlaying it would help stabilize it and minimize dust absorption while sanding.

-- My favorite piece is my last one, my best piece is my next one.

We do use the CA glue, but it seems to darken the wood and leave it looking wet.

-- Tim & Candy Hicks Custom Log Furniture www.rockymountain-twist.com Dust... What Dust

I recently milled up some macnut that had been poisoned, I tried Minwax wood hardener and it worked well in the punky areas….although I did coat the entire surface to prevent uneven coloration, the product soaked in well and was dry in about 2 hours, I kept applying it until I had a consistent sheen across the entire surface….smells nasty

-- If knowledge is not shared, it is forgotten.

I might of just had an Aha moment. I was just thinking that maybe a real simple fix is to use masking tape and place over the punky areas while we are sanding down the stone, I think this would eliminate most of the dust getting stuck…. what do you think?

-- Tim & Candy Hicks Custom Log Furniture www.rockymountain-twist.com Dust... What Dust

Hi Cindy:

I do rustic furniture from tree stumps and old wood, especially wormy wood.
I use Zinsser SealCoat shellac as a sealer and a stain/finish pre-treament.
You should be able to use it before doing the inlay.

It does help with the blochy problem.

You’ll need to experiment.

-- Randy (P), rustic wood crafts, Morning View, Kentucky

Thanks for the information this will truly be helpful, especially since it looks like we might have a few interested retailers. Now if we can get the bugs worked out then all should be good. Thanks again

-- Tim & Candy Hicks Custom Log Furniture www.rockymountain-twist.com Dust... What Dust

candy in spongy wood i use white glue watered down.and put 3 or 4 coats on. it fills in the wood. if you put it on light and let it dry good between coats. it seems to not darken the wood as bad. hope this helps.
ps i use a blow dryer to speed up the drying.

-- hap, gunbarrel city tx.

are you using anything as a sanding sealer? Why can’t you blow out the dust after sanding with an air nozzle?
I’d side toward the shellac side of the answers on here so far. It will be compatable with what ever finish you are using at least. You need to be carefull about using different products. For example, if you use target waterborne lacquer then use targets sanding sealer. ( this is an example and obviously not what you are using) You will run into problems with compatability if you aren’t carefull. But you will be fine with the shellac. As far as it penetrating more here then there, you need to seal the entire piece. A clear finish won’t discolor it anymore in one spot then it will in another unless you are putting something (like glue size) in the softer areas of your piece. You need to spray sealer until the surface looks even all the way across. Good luck

-- ~ Inspiring those who inspire me ~

Cyanoacrylate (Crazy glue) is the stuff to use on the spongy spots. Saw David Marks use it to repair a spongy spot in a piece he was working on.

-- There are three kinds of people... those who can count, and those who can't

I’m working on a project now where I wanted to preserve the rotted edges on some aromatic cedar.
I am using 2 part plastic resin.
I’ve colored it with dyes to match the wood.
It’s still a work in progress (which I hope to blog) but I think I’m gong to be happy with it.

Lee

-- No piece is cut too short. It was meant for a smaller project.

First off I want to thank you for all of the ideas and help, we are going to experiment with many of these ideas and see what works best for us. We ar not using anything as sanding sealer, never even thought about it. ONe of the reasons why we are having a hard time getting the dust out is when we are getting ready to inaly, we cover the edges that are surrounding the area we are going to inlay, with wax. The wax keeps the CA glue from discoloring and soaking into the wood. So if we get wax on the spongy part of the wood, then the dust gets pushed into the wax which gets pushed in to the wood and it wont blow out…. I though about shaping a piece of wax into sort of a pencil with a shap tip so we can better control where the wax goes and also placing tape over the spongy spots. I am sure it is an easy fix, we just need to find a method that works. Thanks again!!!

-- Tim & Candy Hicks Custom Log Furniture www.rockymountain-twist.com Dust... What Dust