I had to sand (with steel wool) epoxy off of a St. Croix Ultr Legend Blank. In doing this I removed the top surface of the blank therefor making the entire blank surface inconsistent. I wish to make it consistent - I don't need to have the original green finish restored, though. Can I sand (with steel wool) the rest of the blank? Can I refinish with something opaque?

I have to admit aestetics are important to me and I am looking for something that is as nice as the original. Is it possible?

PS. For in the future. Is there altenative to sanding?

I normally remove stubborn paint or finish from a blank by scraping rather than sanding. Sanding can be very invasive of the blank's outer fibers and in some cases can cause damage that could cause the blank to fail. (I doubt your steel wool has hurt anything.) I have always found it interesting that many of the top woodworkers can get a better top surface by scraping rather than sanding. Properly done, you won't damage your surface in any way by scraping. (And scraping and slicing are two very different things!)

Without trying to put you off, I would first suggest that you use the archives here and do a search on the topics of "sanding", "blank refinishing", "blank finishing", "painting", etc. There is a wealth of info here that has been contributed in the past 7 months that I think you will find invaluable.

After reading it, if you still have questions please post again and ask specifics.

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