Burn marks in tight corners

[Furu]

I was reckless with my router bit and was too aggressive on some inner corners in oak. How do you - the pros - take care of this at a later stage? I’m finding it impossible to remove all of it with sand paper….

The one pictured here was worse and bigger, but it took me an hour to get to this stage.

 

[Packard]

I wrap a piece of sandpaper over my pointer finger and go at it. If it is just one corner, maybe 5 minutes of work. I would be hand sanding the entire edge anyway. Are you sure the rest of the piece is ready for finish?

I would try working it by hand first and see how far that takes you.

As an aside, hand sanding makes me feel like a craftsman, so I always include that in my pieces.

 

[Furu]

I always hand sand before finish, and I agree the part pictured isn’t ready yet.

Do you go to a low grit on that finger or keep at it a higher and more finished grit? I don’t want to make this worse work wise and so I’m trying to fix it with 180.

 

[Cheese]

Can you get in there with a small scraper or a sharp knife edge to scrap the burnt wood? Continual sanding will distort the radius and the edges and might make it look worse.

 

[Furu]

Can you get in there with a small scraper or a sharp knife edge to scrap the burnt wood? Continual sanding will distort the radius and the edges and might make it look worse.

I’ll give it a try, thank you. I guess I’m just too scared to mess it up more unnecessarily

 

[ChuckS]

As @Cheese said, detail scraper or card scraper.

https://www.leevalley.com/en-ca/shop/tools/hand-tools/scrapers/110314-detail-hand-scraper

You can get the economical version at the hardware store.

I used both hand and card scrapers to deal with the burn marks in a recent project with great results. Sanding wouldn't cut it with deep or endgrain burn marks.

 

[Furu]

As @Cheese said, detail scraper or card scraper.

https://www.leevalley.com/en-ca/shop/tools/hand-tools/scrapers/110314-detail-hand-scraper

You can get the economical version at the hardware store.

I used both types of scrapers to deal with the burn marks in a recent project with great results. Sanding wouldn't cut it.

Great suggestion

I presume that is sharp enough to scrape just tiny amounts of the surface away?

I’ll get this or whatever I can find in my part of the world. Thank you!

 

[ChuckS]

Scraper cutters should come very sharp. You can even buy replacement cutters or blades (triangle, tear drop).

See the cutter is screwed to the handle:

Bahco Scraper/Holster/Triangle Blade : Amazon.ca: Tools & Home Improvement

Bahco Scraper/Holster/Triangle Blade : Amazon.ca: Tools & Home Improvement

www.amazon.ca

The Bacho 625 is what I have.

Oh, you don't have to scrape with the grain, if you can't.

 

[luvmytoolz]

If it's solid timber as in this case, I'll also wipe over it with a damp cloth to raise the grain slightly. This can often allow you to get away with not sanding quite as deep to remove the marks.

 

[Furu]

Great tips here, thank you all!

 

[ChuckS]

I forgot to add that I also use the Bacho to clean up dried squeeze-out in a panel glue-up.

 

[Furu]

I managed to get most of it away (there was little indent where the burn marks where - explains why sandpaper wasn't very effective) and I am happy with the end result. Thank again everyone.

The project is a bench called Krobo by Torbjørn Afdal, designed in 1963. The bench is for my personal use.

I need to manufacture som steel supports that the original bench have, to compensate for sideways motion and to some extent the ridigness of the top plate.

 

[luvmytoolz]

Very nicely done!

 

[mac sparrow]

What tool/method did you use to clean up the burnt area in the end? Is it possible to take a photo of the area that was previously burnt?

I'm also learning about this issue and I appreciate you following up so we can all see and learn how you got on.

Thank you

 

[Furu]

I used a knife and sharpened a flat screwdriver to get into the indent. Sanded 180 in the end again, used a round bar in the same dimension as the radius.

I'll upload a new closeup when I'm home again later today.