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PZC Chatometry

A standard system to measure wood chatoyance

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    • Africa
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      • Finishing Maple
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      • Finishing Curly Maple – part 2
      • Surface preparation on Curly Maple
      • Incremental grit and finishing on Curly Maple
      • Finishing Okoume
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      • Finishing Blonde European Walnut
      • Finishing European Ash
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      • Finishing European Oak
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      • Finishing Padouk
      • Finishing Mulberry
      • Finishing Niangon
      • Finishing Tasmanian Blackwood
    • Progressive grit sanding
    • Ultra-fine sanding
    • Supersurfacing
    • Raw Veneer vs fine sanded
    • Cleaning Black Walnut
    • Quartersawn vs Flatsawn
      • Quartersawn vs Flatsawn on London plane
      • Quartersawn vs Flatsawn on Red Oak
      • Quartersawn vs Flatsawn on European Beech
      • Quartersawn vs Flatsawn on Louro Faia
      • Quartersawn vs Flatsawn on White Mulberry
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      • Australian species
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    • From firewood to PZC results
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Progressive grit sanding

A number of samples were progressively sanded to higher and higher grits and their chatoyance was measured at each step. The results are summarized in table below:

The same data are shown in chart below:

The chart clearly shows a sharp increase in chatoyance when going from 800-grit to 2500-grit for all the 10 species. More details about the Black Walnut samples can be found at the bottom of the page.

Pictures below show some comparison between the 800-grit and the 2500-grit steps:

Sapele 800-grit – PZC = 14.4
Sapele 2500-grit – PZC = 28.1
European Walnut 800-grit – PZC = 8.6
European Walnut 2500-grit – PZC = 14.5
Hard Maple 800-grit – PZC = 8.9
Hard Maple 2500-grit – PZC = 14.5
Movingui 800-grit – PZC = 9.7
Movingui 2500-grit – PZC = 18.6
Niangon 800-grit – PZC = 13.2
Niangon 2500-grit – PZC = 23.3
European Ash 800-grit – PZC = 7.3
European Ash 2500-grit – PZC = 11.4

This set of tests started with an Iroko wood sample which was sanded to 7 different grits, and its chatoyance was measured at each step.

StepPZC
(Pos. 1)
PZC
(Pos. 2)
PZC
(Pos. 3)
PZC
(Average)
120-grit12.312.110.911.8
180-grit 12.311.511.011.6
240-grit11.311.510.911.2
320-grit15.414.715.215.1
600-grit14.413.014.013.8
800-grit20.620.121.120.6
1500-grit25.925.925.025.6

Interestingly, chatoyance did not always increase with grit.

Iroko 120-grit
Iroko 180-grit
Iroko 240-grit
Iroko 320-grit
Iroko 600-grit
Iroko 800-grit
Iroko 1500-grit

The black walnut sample was actually a pair of samples which were then cut and bookmatched to compare the effects of progressive sanding and then finishing.

Sample 1 was subjected to 14 sanding steps (from 80-grit to 10’000 grit) and its chatoyance was measured at each step. Sample 2 was sanded up to 240-grit where its chatoyance was measured. Then they were finished with blonde dewaxed “medium” shellac (2 parts in 13 parts of Alcohol).

Interestingly, chatoyance seems to continuously increase with grit, and even at 10’000 it does not appear to have reached an asymptote. In addition, chatoyance after finishing appears significantly higher on the fine-sanded sample.

Table and chart below summarize the results:

Sample 1 – 80-grit – PZC = 14.5
Sample 1 – 240-grit – PZC = 12.5
Sample 1 – 10’000-grit – PZC = 23.1
Sample 1 – 10’000-grit + 3 Medium Shellac coats – PZC = 26.4
Sample 2 – 240-grit – PZC = 11.6
Sample 2 – 240-grit + 5 Medium Shellac coats – PZC = 21.4

4 thoughts on “Progressive grit sanding”

  1. Peter Rich on Aprile 10, 2023 | 3:20 pm

    Very interesting. The black walnut pair suggest that 5 coats over 249 grit will give a similar result to 3 coats over 10,000 grit. Not quite as good, but similar. Very good demonstration.

    Rispondi
  2. Paolo Pisani on Aprile 12, 2023 | 8:11 am

    Thank you. Chatoyance after finishing on the 10’000-grit sanded sample is 5 points higher (26.4 vs 21.4) – this is a perceivable difference.

    Rispondi
  3. Rob on Febbraio 21, 2024 | 1:41 pm

    Interesting, good work. I’d love to see more progressive comparisons with shellac, though I understand that’s a much more challenging test to do!!

    Rispondi
    • ppjbcol on Marzo 31, 2024 | 5:47 am

      Hi there. Have a look here:
      https://www.chatometry.com/ultra-fine-sanding/
      Does it provide the kind of data you were looking for?

      Rispondi

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