I've laser engraved text onto a wooden plaque . The engraving has some finely spaced grooves. I want to apply a stain on it , sand it out so that the engraved portion is darker than the rest. I'm planning on using a fine-grit sandpaper to hand-sand it. I'm a little worried that sanding will blend the engraved and non-engraved portions of the wood – the engraving is probably 1mm deep.
Is there an alternative ?
Best Answer
Use a sanding block (ie, do not hand sand with your fingers) which will prevent the sandpaper from pressing into the grooves.
1 mm is huge, for anything reasonably described as fine sandpaper and not applied with excess enthusiasm.
But, as is always the case, testing your complete proposed finishing process on a suitable piece of (in this case) laser-engraved scrap would be the best bet.