Help! Can't lose the scratches!

Let me be the first to say that I don't have an eighth of the woodworking skills you folks have. I've been working on this myrtlewood bandsaw box and fighting the finish for several days.

I can't get the scratches out. I'm sanding with 400 between coats of poly. The scratches were much more pronounced with the Minwax PolyGloss wipe on. I switched to a wiping finish of 50 % poly/mineral spirit and the finish is much better. I've tried not random orbit, hand sanding and steel wool. I still have visible scratches.

Disreguard the dates on the photos, I'm no better at camera work than finish work!

I assume the scratches are in the finish, not the wood.

One of the experts will hopefully chime in here but.........you have to let poly cure for a long while before you go after it with sandpaper. I have rubbed out Minwax wipe-on poly with great success [on a blanket chest for teenagers - hence the poly], and IIRC, I waited a week - maybe longer. This was a couple years ago, so memory is fuzzy.

Plus - at 400g, you're just getting started. You've gotta go to - I dunno - 1200? 1500? - depending on the final gloss you want.

Thanks, Kent. I assume it is in just the finish because I never saw it on the previous coats of poly. I will let it dry longer and then do a much finer sanding.

Kent, you saved the day. Hit it with some 1200 and 4400 I found lurking in my sandpaper drawer and voila it was perfect! With a little wax it turned out perfect! You saved Christmas...thank you!:)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Biff Johnson

You saved Christmas...thank you!:)

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Sounds like something out of a Dr Seuss book.......:D

My work here is done.

That's a neat little box. Have you been working on it since 2007?

No, my dumb digital camera defaults to that date for some reason. I recently discovered bandsaw box making and I've gone a bit wild with them! Then my wife and daughter got hooked so I can hardly get to the bandsaw now!

I bet the scratches are in the wood underneath the finish. If so, no amount of between coat sanding is going to have any effect. You will have to strip off the finish you have applied so far and then more carefully re-sand the wood itself.