Finish sanding and Whiskering

OK, it's time to do the final steps in preporation for the finish. In these last two steps the first one is the finish sanding. Not a whole lot to explain here. When I refinish a stock I usually take it down to 600 grit paper. I know some go further but in all honesty I can't see any difference in one that's been sanded to 400 grit as oppossed to one that's been taken down to 2000 grit. I will go step further than I can see but that's it.

This stock has already been sanded down with 400 grit paper so the last step is 600 grit. I dry sand in this stage because I want to seal it up in the morning. The stock will have sat for about 50 hours since it was wet sanded and I consider that enough time to dry out. Keep in mind this stock is a 55+ year old piece of wood and it's cured.

Back to sanding. With 600 grit paper I sand with the grain and make sure I cover the entire stock. 600 grit paper is very fine and leaves little dust. I still use a sanding block whenever possible.

There isn't really a whole lot to cover here and a picture won't show anything. After I finish this step it's time to whisker the stock.

WHISKERING THE STOCK

This is a very important step that can ruin a perfectly good project if not done.

In a walnut gunstock the wood is full of fibers. These fibers are actually hollow tubes and they are what gives the stock it's strength. When you sand a stock you tear, pull, shred, crush and push these exposed fibers back into the stock. The stock will feel very smooth until it gets wet, then it'll feel like it has fuzz on it or WHISKERS. If you don't remove these before the finish goes on they can and will cause trouble down the road for you. They can actually pop right out of a completely finished stock ruining all your hard work!

There is a very easy way to deal with this though and you need to do it before you seal the stock. First, get a clean dish rag and wet it down. It doesn't need to be dripping wet but wet enough that you don't need to work the stock to get the surface wet. Wipe down the entire stock and let it dry. After it dries, run your hand down the stock. Does it feel "fuzzy?" What's happened here is when you sanded the stock you tore these fibers loose and then drove the loose ends back into the grain. For some reason water makes them stand up straight again. After your stock is dry you sand it down with 600 grit paper again. This gets rid of of the "whiskers." After you sand it down repeat this process again, wet, dry, sand. Each time you do it you should feel a little less fuzz/whiskers. When you wet the stock down and don't feel anything different the process is complete.

This goes pretty quickly and you can usually call it good after doing it 3 times. I have had stocks that took 6 rounds before they stayed smooth.

I thought about snapping a few pictures but really didn't think it would show anything. I consider this a VERY IMPORTANT STEP though in the refinish project and would not skip it.

The next step will be sealing the wood up and getting it ready for the final finish. I'm going to let it finish drying tonight and will apply the sealing coat in the morning.