More finishing issues (sooner than expected)

[KingwoodFan1989]

Change of plans, I was able to test more finish on my veneer sooner...one of the panels I made, I made a fatal mistake on one side that I won't get into...needless to say that panel is going to be one of my test panels rather than a project part, so I'm not having to glue up another test panel just yet. I'm also gonna have to end up ordering more veneer since I need to remake one of those panels. 

So I tried sanding it, and I ran into one key problem: there's some weird grain that I just cannot seem to sand away. Since it's a test panel, I even tried using my new Bosch sander (new, flat pad hasn't come yet) and kept it moving (220 grit, followed by hand sanding with 320 in that spot), and it did get rid of most of it, but I'm almost to the point where I'll start going through the veneer soon. When you put anything on it, whether it's mineral spirits, denatured alcohol, or finish, it REALLY highlights it, and you get an ugly line going across the piece. Hand sanding didn't get rid of it, either. I sanded part of the successful of the two panels in the same spot, and it's proving tough to get rid of there, too. What the heck is the issue here?! You'll see what I mean in the pics below. I'm not sure what to do here, and it's pretty discouraging. My seam was also nearly invisible before applying anything, and now it's showing. That last one's easy to fix (I'll just use an inlay strip of Jatoba), but still. Too much.

[jteneyck]

Somehow I forgot you are using commercial veneer.  You can't sand that stuff much.  I almost never use anything coarser than 320 or 400 grit.  

The line you have is likely in the veneer and there's nothing you can do about it besides looking closely at your veneer before using it and culling those areas out.  

If your glue seams are more visible after sanding it likely means the edges of the veneer pieces were not square when you seamed them.  Some folks intentionally do that so the seams will be tight.  That's all well and good unless you sand a little afterwards, as you now see.  

John

[KingwoodFan1989]

The line you have is likely in the veneer and there's nothing you can do about it besides looking closely at your veneer before using it and culling those areas out.  

If your glue seams are more visible after sanding it likely means the edges of the veneer pieces were not square when you seamed them.  Some folks intentionally do that so the seams will be tight.  That's all well and good unless you sand a little afterwards, as you now see.  

John

I ordered the veneer online...I'm waiting for a response from the guy I got it from. He has a fairly large selection of it, so since I have to order more I might get a different lot of it. It was marked 3 out of 5 stars as far as the grade went...I was under the impression that was talking about the figure. TBH I thought it would come perfectly smooth and all I'd need to do is flatten and glue it. Again, though, large selection, so I'll see what else I can find. I'll ask him to confirm there aren't any of those lines there and then I'll order it. On a second look at the zoomed in picture you can clearly see that line going across. There's always a chance there could be tinier ones, though, so I'll just confirm before I order that there's no more. It was only $32 for 7 11x28 sheets, but I still feel bad to have wasted a decent amount of it due to my incompetence. I'll probably just reserve the rest of it for a smaller veneering project where I can cut around that line. Here's the ordering page: https://www.veneersupplies.com/products/...r-Lot.html

As for gluing up, the way I did it was clamping the two veneers between flat cauls with the bookmatching edge on both sticking out by about 1/16", then sanding until they matched up with the edges of both. I read online today that you can use a router with a flush trim bit, so I might try that. I'd have to take VERY light passes, though, as I don't want any tearout and I'd rather not invest in an expensive spiral bit right now.

This has DEFINITELY been a valuable learning experience...I just hate having to waste material in the process. Thanks for your helpful comments!