Need help keeping the chatoyancy

In a recent project I had a small piece of Rosewood with some nice shimmery ripple in the grain, but after I finished it, the depth in the chatonacy was gone. In that instance I sanded to 120 and applied three coats of water based varnish - so I figured my finishing was inadequate for the timber.

I have just completed a Cherry sideboard and am about to start the finishing process. I had planned to sand to 180, give it two coats of shellac as a sealer against the blotching that cherry is famous for, sanding to 320 between coats, and then adding several coats of oil-based gloss wiping varnish, also sanding between coats and possibly rubbing with wax at the end. I have some really nice chatoyancy in the top that I obviously don't want to lose. Am I right that my poor finishing killed the shine in the first project, and is this the best finishing method to showcase the gem-like shimmer and depth of this timber or would you advise something else?

Handplanes are better when it comes to finishing wood as they leave a finer surface. However, if you sand, then stopping at 120 is going to destroy any window into the wood. You must get rid of the fine scratches from the 120 grit. This is what you have discovered with the Cherry when you sanded to 320. With Rosewood I would sand until about 400, and never use oil as this will darken the wood and obscure the grain. Use Shellac as a sealer here as well.

You seem to have done OK with sanding and finishing the Cherry.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Planes are capable of producing an exceptionally fine surface (they can also cause tear-out just when you thought you'd finished with them), but when it comes to finishing (deceiving the eye), then it's all bets off.

A surface sanded even to 180 and with a film finish can look every bit as good as a planed and finished surface. In-the-wood finishes will tend to show up more scratches.

The flat panels and drawer fronts of the table I made recently (below) were planed, but the cabriole legs were scraped and sanded to only 180, yet the gloss level is the same across the entire surface.


https://www.woodworkforums.com/member...310511-31a.jpg

Don't let tool snobs tell you that you can't use sandpaper to obtain a good finish. Admittedly, I often don't use sandpaper at all (normally when I'm trying to achieve a certain period look), but sandpaper is a tool, and just like a plane, it can produce good and poor surfaces depending on the wood species/user.

Oil can dull the chatoyancy in a lot of timbers, and it also brings out the blotchyness in cherry. Water based finishes can also lead to a less than exciting look, too. Try a first coat of shellac before putting on varnish, and it's probably worthwhile doing a few test boards rather than testing on the piece!