How can I sand old, weathered wood and retain the rough look?
I am building a table top from weathered, reclaimed boards. The weathered wood has a ribbed feel if run your fingers across it. I want to retain some of that irregularity, but make it softer to the touch and minimize splinters. I have thought of hand sanding with sanding sponges or steel wool, but that will be a lot of work and I am hoping that there is a sanding tool that would get me most of the way there. I can imagine something that looks like a buffer for a car, but is rougher — alas I can’t find anything like that.
Thanks!
Hey there! You don’t want to use a grinder or wire brush or 80 grit sandpaper. You will just mess up all that great wood. Please don’t you the B&D “mouse”sander its a P.O.S. You’ll want to get yourself an DeWalt Random Orbit sander there about 65 bucks at home depot. You should use like 120-150 grit sandpaper. That will smooth out all the rough spots and cut down on some of the splitiery spots. Now if you have major splinters just use some glue, i use Titebond 2, just squeeze a little under the splinter and put some yellow masking tape on it or maybe something heavy like a brick. It will dry in about an hour. Then do some final hand sanding with some 150 grit sand paper. I would use maybe an oil base finish or lacquer. Both avail. at home depot or your local hardware store. Some good brands are McClusky(oil), Helsmen(oil), Deft(lacquer) or if you have a Vista Paint store use Valspar also lacquer. After 1 coat some of the smaller spliters will lift. Give it a nice sanding with some 180 or 220 grit sand paper. If the splinters are bad enough take a razorblade and just cut them off. Continue with 2 to 3 more coats of the finish with sanding of 220 or 320grit sandpaper. Have fun. I hope this helps and not confuses you more.
Robin Sparkles – Sandcastles In The Sand