Raised fibers on white oak when wet

[DSWalker]

So I cut and sanded these kitchen spatulas/pot stir'er's from white oak, not thinking about the fibers rising when they get used/cleaned.

If I wet them, let the fibers rise, sand, then repeat a few times, will it eventually stop, or is this going to be a perpetual problem?

This white oak is from our family homeplace and I wanted to make some of these for family members.

 

[Mike Davis]

I make most of my cutting boards from white oak and I always raise the grain twice. I found that card scraping works better than sanding.

 

[Willemjm]

The secret is to use sandpaper 400 grit or finer and scuff sand very lightly after the first water treatment. You want to remove only the raised fibers and not expose the surface towards loosening new fibers.

 

[fairweather woodworking]

The secret is to use sandpaper 400 grit or finer and scuff sand very lightly after the first water treatment. You want to remove only the raised fibers and not expose the surface towards loosening new fibers.

I use both, the scraper first to knock down the fibers, going with the grain, and then spray a lite amount of H2O to raise the grain again and start with 180, 220, 320, 400 and finally a red scotch brite pad equal to 400 grit that Amazon sells. Then apply the sanding sealer and scuff with the red pad again. Might take a few coats and scuffing until all the fibers lay down.