# Black palm



## dennyd (Apr 12, 2013)

Looking for some suggestions on finishing black palm. Don't know if pic shows the grain good enough. 
I have sanded thru 800, wiped with DNA and blew with air. Looked good, then after 2 coats of CNA looks 
crappy. Any ideas 
Thx.- Denny


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## ghost5 (Aug 19, 2012)

Sorry I can't help I turned it twice which was 2 times too many. I finished mine with rattle can lacquer but it wasn't a pen.


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## jdaschel (Jan 10, 2013)

Hi. I am not sure when you say "crappy" what were you after? If it is shine you are after you may want to do a CA finish. It makes everything shiny.


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## dennyd (Apr 12, 2013)

I guess crappy was a vague description. I can get all the shine I want with CA glue. It's what's underneath the glue that counts. 
I find out black palm can be difficult to work with. . Never dealt with this before. Maybe sanding sealer will help.


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## duncsuss (Aug 21, 2009)

I've turned it once, don't plan to turn it again.

That said ... what I did, and it gave me decent results, was this:

- use thin CA liberally as a "stabilizer/sealer" (not all at once, just a little area at a time)

- take some fresh 320 or 400 grit sandpaper and a flat scrap of wood as a backer block

- wet the sandpaper and the blank (this is important)

- wet sand using the backer block till you think you got all the surface flattened

- wash off the slurry, wipe dry with a paper towel, and inspect: any shiny patches mean you still have a low spot, you must wet sand some more

- is the surface a uniform 'milky' gray? if so, proceed to wet sand with micromesh up through the grits to 12,000 and finish off with some plastic polish (I use Huts Ultragloss)

- remember to sand along the blank to remove all radial scratches before starting on the next grit in the sequence

- remember to wash away all the slurry from each sanding between grits

HTH

The result I got ...


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## jdaschel (Jan 10, 2013)

I would say the simple solution is the buy stabilized black palm. But I am not sure what to tell you about this piece. I never got past drilling on unstabilized black palm. LOL


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## dennyd (Apr 12, 2013)

Ended up sanding to 800. Then 2coats of sanding sealer. Blew off the blanks to get rid dust in the grain.then continued with ca glue
process.then mm and the palm turned out pretty well if I so myself Hope the pic shows my work. Thank for any and all advise.


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## dennyd (Apr 12, 2013)




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## jdaschel (Jan 10, 2013)

You can get the dust out of the grain by wiping it down with denatured alcohol


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