# Sanding walnut



## rickthumbs (Mar 3, 2008)

So I pick a nice piece of walnut for the grain but when I sand it the grain pretty much disappears and the wood gets lighter in color, nothing like before it was sanded. The finish - usually tung oil - restores some of the color & detail, but I'm never happy with it. This happens every time I use walnut. I sand 110, 220, 320, regular sandpaper. Anyone have a suggestion?
Thanks


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## CharlieM1958 (Nov 7, 2006)

I'm stumped, Rick. I use walnut all the time, and I have not seen what you are describing. I'm guessing that you are picking your walnut from stock that has been milled for a very long time, and has darkened with age from exposure to light, so sanding reveals "fresher" wood.


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## BroDave (Dec 16, 2007)

Just expose it to sunlight for a couple of hours before you apply the finish, it will darken up again.


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## Sawmillnc (Jan 14, 2010)

Could be you are using steamed walnut instead of nice sawmill air dried then kiln dried walnut. If you buy from a retailer you have steamed.


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## Xtreme90 (Aug 29, 2009)

try just sanding just to 150 then apply finish.


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## Gofor (Jan 12, 2008)

You could also try a card scraper instead of sanding. It will give you the same surface quality as if you hand planed it. However, like Charlie, I have never had that result. I use air dried, though.

Go


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## richgreer (Dec 25, 2009)

Just an idea - - try card scraping instead of sanding.


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## Ollie (Jun 8, 2009)

I have noticed a similar effect recetly but i found once I applied oil fiinsh the grain came back very well. 
I would say that if it is straight pieces then just plane it or use a scraper, thus avoiding sadpaper al together.


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## jusfine (May 22, 2010)

From my experience, *walnut color becomes lighter with age*...
Cherry darkens.

I have never seen the "symptoms" you describe either.


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## meme (May 27, 2010)

I had the same experience with walnut that I used on a box. Also the finish never got really smooth. It seemed like there were little bits almost like the surface was "fuzzy". I finally got a tolerable finish with poly, sand, poly sand, etc.


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## BillWhite (Jul 23, 2007)

Sounds like you have steamed walnut. Walnut will naturally lighten with light and age (not like cherry which gets darker).
Bill


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## ChrisJohnson (Aug 17, 2010)

I agree with a few other post here that when you use air dryed walnut the color stands out more.
When ever you sand a piece of wood the air on it makes it look different after you place any stain or finish on it.
On a different note: you can use a mixture of vinager and steelwool If you want the wood to look more aged as one different process


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## MOJOE (Jun 13, 2009)

Just a guess, but walnut is somewhat open grained…...might be fine dust collecting in the pores and making things look washed out. Might try a quick wash with alcohol or the like and then blow dry with compressed air. The alcohol should also show you a "sneak peak" of how the wood will look when finished.


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## 489tad (Feb 26, 2010)

I just cut and sanded a sample piece of walnut to see how it would look next to lacewood. Off the band saw, 60, 80, 120, 220. I spritzed with water to raise the grain and sanded with 220 again. Very smooth, and the sanded side is the same color as the original surface, one coat of oil and the grain popped. Sample is from Woodcraft so maybe its steamed? Good luck.


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