In article , n0y
says...
I've pretty well weened myself off of pine except for some trinket stuff and
have mainly been using red oak. After running it through the planer and
getting it sized. I start with 100, 120, 150 & 220 grit using the PC RAS.
The wood feels pretty smooth but after the finishing is done I can run my
hand across the wood and feel the texture or the grain of the wood. I'm
wanting to build the A&C Library desk that David Marks built and a rough
surface on a desktop would not work. Is there something else I need to do or
should I use white oak?
Thanks, Mike

You can sand some woods, mahogany, walnut, oak, comes to mind, all day
long and it is still not going to be smooth. Unlike, say maple, the cell
structure is such that those woods are open pored. No matter what you do
the raw wood is always going to be what you see now.

With an oil finish it usually doesn't matter since most of the time you
are looking for a natural feel and look to the wood.

For a surface finish you have to fill the pores to the point where they
are level with the surface of the surrounding wood. The process is a
matter of applying a pore filler and sanding it back until the whole
surface is level. Without, of course, sanding all the filler off. It may
take more then one coat.

For a filler you can use a one or two pound cut of de waxed shellac, a
very thin version of the finish you are going too use, or a commercial
pore/wood filler.

If you are going to stain it is usually best to stain first but then you
have to be very careful not to sand through the stain when leveling the
filler.

If using a commercial filler you have to be careful and either select
one that approximates the color you want to achieve or a clear filler.

I usually opt for crystalc clear drying filler

http://store.yahoo.com/squaredrive/f...s---equipment-
crystalac-clear-paste-filler.html .







--
MikeG
Heirloom Woods
www.heirloom-woods.net