Yorkshire Grit Paste

[Glynne]

Just browsing some wood sites on Facebook this morning looking for inspiration and came across a lovely ebonised oak bowl.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/GlobalWoodturners/permalink/1480553905329447/

Reading the description it describes using Yorkshire Grit Paste and I wondered whether anyone had used this and would recommend it?

 

[woodpig]

I've not tried it myself yet but I did send some information to a mate. He's tried it and reckons it's very good. It's on my list of items to buy when I next visit Yandles. There are several YouTube videos on the topic and gets a thumbs up from users.

 

[themackay]

I use it all the time sand to 320 coat of sanding sealer then application of Yorkshire grit followed by micrcrystalene wax and am pleased with the results

 

[Robbo3]

I have used it on finials & the insides of boxes for which it is very good.
Another similar product which is Australian but has been about longer is Ubeaut EEE (triple E). It adds a light to mid brown tinge to the wood.
- http://www.ubeaut.com.au/eee.htm
- http://www.turners-retreat.co.uk/finish ... hine-250ml

Edit: Seems to be no longer stocked by Turner's Retreat but it is at The Toolpost as EEE Ultrashine
- https://www.toolpost.co.uk//pages/Finis ... lawax.html

 

[woodpig]

Ubeaut EEE (triple E) adds a light to mid brown tinge to the wood.

That doesn't sound too good. Think I'll stick to getting the Yorkshire Grit.

 

[Paul Hannaby]

Using any sort of abrasive paste on open grained woods like oak, ash, chestnut, elm etc. will result in grit being left in the pores in the wood with no effective way to remove it properly. That can't be good in the long term.

 

[Stiggy]

It's a great product and I use it as much as possible to give a flawless finish, PLUS it cuts down on the sanding - cutting down on creating dust can only be a good thing too!

 

[Paul Hannaby]

Replacing wood dust with silica dust is probably even worse!

 

[user 25787]

Yorkshire Grit is simply another way of sanding a piece of wood except that the 'grit' is suspended in a paste rather than attached to a piece of paper. But of course Yorkshire Grit is generally only used for final finishing and generally the wood will have been given a coat of sanding sealer which will, to a certain extent, close up the pores.
And Yorkshire Grit is roughly equivalent to the White Diamond compound used in most 3 stage buffing systems
So surely it is just as likely that silica 'dust' or grit will be left in the pores of wood when we sand using sandpaper or use a buffing system as it is when we use Yorkshire Grit.

As with most things in woodturning we will all find our own solutions and make our own choices about how we go about doing our thing.

So if you fancy it, give it a try and make your own mind up about whether it is going to be part of your finishing routine.

 

[andersonec]

I would have thought kitchen roll tissue would have been rough enough to impart the same sort of 'grit' rating these waxes apply, Mylands 'cutting wax' is another.

Andy

 

[Paul Hannaby]

So surely it is just as likely that silica 'dust' or grit will be left in the pores of wood when we sand using sandpaper or use a buffing system as it is when we use Yorkshire Grit.

Good quality abrasives used by most turners are generally made with aluminium oxide, not silicon dioxide (silica) - unless of course you use the cheap glass paper!

Dry sanding wouldn't result in much being left in the pores in the wood because there isn't anything to bond the dust to the wood. With certain woods I vacuum the surface of the wood before applying any finish to remove any dust and particles that might remain. With a wax or liquid carrier, this would prevent the dust and grit from being removed.

I'm not saying burnishing products should never be used, just that they should be used selectively where appropriate.

 

[Keithie]

Is there some suggestion that burnishing a turned wooden object with the turnings themselves is a bad idea or that there are better ways?

Seems to me that if you burnish with a different material then there may be different effects than if you burnish with the same material. I've no idea whether proprietary burnishing products are better or can be used to enhance a turned object in a way that's preferable to using the turnings.

Not necessarily the same, but when I used to cast silver items I found that burnishing with a steel burnisher did give a slightly rougher finish than burnishing with a home made (&annealed) silver burnisher.

I guess different methods can be used to achieve different outcomes.

 

[KimG]

I bought a tin of this on the basis of this thread (first time I have come across it), I thought it sounded useful for cutting back lacquer finishes.

So, it has arrived and I had a piece ready which had a spray lacquer finish. At this stage I would normally use a burnishing cream which works well enough, though it cuts back fairly slowly. So I tried this stuff, it cut quickly and very finely too, leaving a glassy finish which I did polish a little further with buffing compound for a final full gloss. The most impressive aspect was the ease with which I was able to get the desired result on the inside of the little bowl I was working on, interiors are notorious difficult to match to exteriors in regard to finish, this stuff did the job very well.

I'll be trying it on shellac next to see it if does that as well, I am pretty confident that it will though after seeing this.

 

[CHJ]

......
So, it has arrived and I had a piece ready which had a spray lacquer finish. At this stage I would normally use a burnishing cream which works well enough, though it cuts back fairly slowly. .......

That's a very significant statement Kim, You used it as an abrasive to cut back surface blemishes and enhance the outer surface of a finishing and sealing coat on the wood, that makes sense to me and totally normal practice with a cutting compound.


My personal reservations are with the products recommended use:-

Yorkshire grit is an abrasive paste formulated to give a fine keyed surface to your turnings, prior to applying your finish of choice.  It consists of pharmaceutical grade ingredients, including mineral oil, beeswax and ultra fine grinding powders.........

Surely the wood surface is then impregnated with a blend of mineral oil, wax & abrasive debris, not something that would be conducive to a good bond for many sealing finishes.

I have occasionally used a wet burnishing abrasive* with a small mop on internals to good effect but only on a sealed coated surface. (gets a bit messy on externals)

Or am I missing something totally obvious and using products such as this I can ignore surface contamination, I'll have to acquire some and see if a treated wood surface still bonds well with an adhesive, if it does then I guess it will take a coating such as water based acrylic or cellulose sealers & lacquer.

* Burnishing cream with added 'CIF' or 'Ajax' powder.

 

[KimG]

It may work well on bare wood, not tried that as yet, but I too had reservations about doing that as well Chas, as you know, I generally apply a shellac finish to bare wood, I could see the various oils interfering with that. What I do like about it for cutting back is the property is has of becoming increasingly fine during use, and from the initial trial, this seemed to happen fairly rapidly. I guess its a case of trial and error until you get fully familiar with its advantages and drawbacks, I wouldn't want to use it on an open grained wood like Oak or Ash though, I reckon the pores would hold a fair bit of residue afterwards.

 

[woodpig]

Would applying a couple of coats of sanding sealer first prevent ingress of residue into the pores? I'm not sure I've seen it used on bare wood.

 

[KimG]

Really as with most new things, the best way of finding what works and what doesn't is to try it out, that's what I'll be doing with this as I go. If I find anything striking I'll post it up.

 

[Dalboy]

Really as with most new things, the best way of finding what works and what doesn't is to try it out, that's what I'll be doing with this as I go. If I find anything striking I'll post it up.

I am pretty sure whatever you do it will be striking Kim

 

[KimG]

Sounds violent, I better get a hard hat.