I was concerned about that too, but the scraper was the only thing that would fair the strips without dipping down into the soft wood between the growth rings. One the other hand, the scraper's sharp edge should slice the wood cells open cleanly and still leave capillaries for the epoxy to flow into. Judging by the color change when I applied the seal coat, I'm confident there was sufficient penetration. Time will tell, though.

> Ross, Very impressive! However, I am wondering if using a scraper, which
> does give a very smooth finish, does not create the same possible adhesion
> problem like fine sandpaper would. Dave