Sanding Hickory

[Hasbinbad]

Anyone have any experience? I'm having an issue where no matter how much I try sanding with the tougher grit, more grains pop out, so that when I end up gritting up to 220+, the "exposed" surfaces get glassy but the divots left by the popped grain never feel the sand paper...

[Hasbinbad]

Yeah thanks. I've been looking at forums and shit but either they are too technical or dealing with some other problem.

[Hasbinbad]

..and i know that sanding hickory is something that HICKS do (coz thats where they got their name), and I know there are a lot of hicks on this server, so leave me alone. This is not RnF.

[Hasbinbad]

I got tired of waiting and finished it as-is.

The walking stick:

http://i.imgur.com/LK2WYyh.jpg

[Rhambuk]

and I know there are a lot of hicks on this server, so leave me alone.

Yo.

Doesn't look half bad, though you'd probably have had more luck using a lathe than sanding by hand (assuming thats how you did it because most people don't have lathes or access to).

[Hasbinbad]

I might start a walking stick company. Call it .. "Speak Softly"

[Rhambuk]

Hick LFWork

[Hasbinbad]

Yo.

Doesn't look half bad, though you'd probably have had more luck using a lathe than sanding by hand (assuming thats how you did it because most people don't have lathes or access to).
yeah no i don't. it's just a machine lathed hickory dowel that i knocked out from 60 through 400 grit and then one coat of dark walnut danish oil, rubbed off in "teak oil finish" (both varnish/oil/solvent blends). It's curing. The shitty pictures don't do it justice.. you can barely make it out, but the heartwood/sapwood line goes down then ~1/3 line, and nicely stripes the stick.

[Hasbinbad]

I have another one matched that i havent finished yet

[Hasbinbad]

4" lengths of hickory. perfect to hang a sign on while marching ^^

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[Hasbinbad]

4' too. stfu

[Rhambuk]

4" lengths of hickory. perfect to hang a sign on while marching ^^


lol. I must it looks like it turned out very well, kudos on the craftsmanship.

[Alawen]

Wood is my most frequent medium, so I've spent a lot of time sanding both by hand and with machines. My guess is that you were grinding hard with the heavy paper in a fast up and down motion and that's how you made gouges. If you keep working with it, it'll come to you. You'll also develop weird muscle groups that make it all easier.

I think the top of the stick needs work. The rough facets give it a hammered appearance that don't match the polish of the length.

Did you enjoy it? One of my friends came up with a phrase in an artist statement that I relate strongly to: the tranquility of repetitive motion. I really like hand sanding, but my hands are pretty much permanently fucked.

[Rhambuk]

the tranquility of repetitive motion.

Leads to fucked hands, and explosive satisfaction.

[Hasbinbad]

alawen there are not any sanding gouges, all exposed surfaces are 400-grit glassy. except on the top. i was going to carve both ends, but it's a practice shillelagh, so it actually differentiates the top from the bottom in a very subtle way. the bottom is chisel carved to round in the style of some japanese style weapons, bo, jo, yawara, and bokken.i did this for that reason at first, not really ever meaning to use this as a walking stick, but only as a practice staff.. but after i had carved the one side, i had the realization that not only would that allow me to use it as a walking stick (sometimes you just need to see it), but that it gave the differentiation between top and bottom to practice bataireacht or modern shillelagh either with or without that differentiation.

[Hasbinbad]

I haven't decided what I'm going to do with the top. I might leave it as is, since this is going to be a working stick rather than a display piece, I might finish it, or I might end up capping it.

[Hasbinbad]

This is an example of a professional job of this style.

http://i.imgur.com/MCZCtr3.png

[Hasbinbad]

and keep in mind that my shitty carved end is going to be what hits concrete

[Hasbinbad]

but the whole shaft is super glassy and the oil is starting to really penetrate and bring the bursting out in the grain it's getting better. I'll post more pictures after i wax my pole.

yes. i did just say that.

[Rhambuk]

I've always preferred a "flat" top. No cap nor rounded, its simple yet stylish due to the sanding/finish. Besides I've always liked the feel of a flat top in my palm.

[Hasbinbad]

it seemed like no matter how much i tried to rough the shit up with the 60 or 80, when i flatten it down again there are always grain divets... maybe it's just that the hickory was dried fast.. i know it's mostly kiln dried now and these were $7 dowels..

[Hasbinbad]

what i really don't want is a giant splinter of hickory .. so i think that despite my better judgement, i'm going to varnish it and them sand it back flush, and then re-danish it.

[Hasbinbad]

but i dunno that is so much fucking work

[quido]

http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/

[Hasbinbad]

yeah that's one of the places where they are all too technical for me and i dont want to get involved in the woodworking community i thought i would just ask here coz i know there are a lot of people on these forums whose mothers are their aunts too.

[quido]

24 hours ago, after days of endless stupid posts from you Hasbinbad, I think implying that you would come to the p99 forums to talk about sanding hickory would have been a pretty funny joke.

[Hasbinbad]

i post all kinds of shit in ot and always have

[Rhambuk]

mothers are their aunts too.

Hey hey hey my cousin is a wonderful lady! ( and you wouldn't believe what she can do with her tongue!)