Ive been trying to work with Hackberry off and on for a couple of months. The pieces I have are bright white with dark grey hearts. The problem is that when I sand it, the grey dust gets into the pores of the white wood and make a mess of the white. Is there some way to avoid/fix this? Using an oil based darkens the entire piece. Laquer is better, seems to seal the wood, .. Ive been sanding to 400.. Its extremely frustrating.. Im about to use the hackberry in the wood stove, but it seems like it could be so nice.
This vase was turned green and is about 12" tall. The other picture illustrates the problem..
Thanks!
IMG_4211.JPG IMG_4215.JPG