Keeping surfaces clean

[Kyle Barbour]

I hope to be doing the final sanding for finish prep on my bloodwood sj soon. I don't look forward to trying to keep bloodwood dust off of the top. How do you all keep the tops clean while sanding?

[Kevin in California]

Kyle,
I did a sitka top with bloodwood binding, and I had no trouble with sanding dust from the bloodwood. Spruce is pretty closed pore, but what you can do is spray a light coat of shellac on your top, and then sand it last...sanding off the shellac. This is a pretty common way of keeping the top clean.

Kevin

[Kyle Barbour]

Thanks Kevin. I knew there would be a simple solution.I'll probably put a coat of Zpoxy on the back and sides before sanding the top also.

[ken cierp]

I believe it is best to rattle can spray at least a few seal coats on the sound-board before working on the back and sides. If the chemicals used on the back or side mix with the dark dust or resin and form a "liquid staining agent" that can be bad news for the spruce. Like the mass producers I much prefer a "modern vinyl" sealer over shellac for the many reasons I have written about in other threads.