removal of sanding sealer

[Gino]

I recently purchased some second hand office furniture where one item covered with what I think is American Oak Veneer and the other with Jarrah veneer.
I spent a great deal of time and care stripping and then sanding this furnature, and then I applied Feast Watson Sanding sealer.
I did this because I was led to believe by someone that it would bring out the grain more. (it already look nice without it).
I now am trying to sand this sanding sealer off (as per the instructions) but the sand paper is continuously getting clogged.
I rang Feast Watson who said that I must sand it all back to the raw wood, but it seems no matter how long I sand for the paper just keeps clogging up.

Could this be because the wood has soaked up the sanding sealer and now because it is withing the wood ie saturated, that no matter what it will cause this clogging effect? Therefore should I just stop now and varnish it as is?

I purchased some grade 1 steel wool from bunnings and this seems to be removing the surface sealer and I appear to have reached the wood, but if I revert back to paper once again it clogs up.

Sorry for the bad explaination, but if anyone has any comments or advice it will be greatly apprieciated, as I am now regretting using this product which I was told should have only been used on a more porous timber.

thankyou

regards

Gino

[aju]

Hi Gino,

You have no problem at all. That type sanding sealer is supposed to seal between the grains - ie it is grain filling. It is also normal for it to clog the sandpaper. This is because the sealer is protecting the wood fibres from being torn by the sandpaper. Normally, you would follow these steps
(1) apply the sanding sealer on a well sanded surface,
(2) lightly sand with say 240-320 Grit when the sealer has dried,
(3) clean the surface with methylated spririt and a soft rag, and
(4) apply several coats of a final finish of the right type (Sorry - I don't know what type at the moment is compatible with your sanding sealer). Sand with 240 - 320 grit between coats.

Hope this helps
AJU

[Gino]

Thanks AJU

Was speaking with a fellow club member this afternoon who said a similar thing to you. So I'm going to use steel wool instead and apply some finish to to a small area just to be sure.
I sure feell better about the whole thing now as I thought it was going to be a nightmare to fix things up.

thanks again.

regards

Gino

[DPB]

I would re-think the use of Bunnings' steel wool. It's been my experience that the steel wool they sell is of very poor quality. It easily comes apart leaving small almost invisible flecs of steel particles. These get stuck in the grain of the wood and are subject to rusting.

I would look for an alternative supplier and have had success with the steel wool sold by http://urlzip.org/Woodsmith

[Gino]

Thanks DPB.

I'll keep that in mind, I've heard that not all steel wool is the same in this way.
I've already started using the bunnings stuff and maybe because it is a grade 1 type it doesn't seem to be comming apart but I also want some finer stuff which I can't get at bunnings so I'll give the woodsmith a call today.

regards

Gino