Finishing Elm ???

[Dean]

This is my first post on here, I have been browsing quite a few wood turning sites for a few months and this seems to be the most informative site for the UK.
I have been learning wood turning for just over a year from books and trial and error ( mostley error ).

Anyway, I am having a problem getting a good finish on a hollow Elm egg I have turned.
Trying to upload photo

The link below is the egg open.

 

[Anonymous]

hi dean... welcome!!!

Did you go through the range of grits when sanding?

What finish have you tried?

Do you want a lustre / shine / hard shine?

 

[Alf]

Welcome to the forum, Dean. The Spaminator has caught your url (it'll stop doing that after a few more posts) so I've re-posted on your behalf:

Cheers, Alf

 

[PowerTool]

Hi,Dean,and welcome

Looks nice (thanks Alf) - I find elm generally sands and finishes well,and your egg looks nicely finished.
What finish did you use ?

Andrew

 

[Dean]

Thank you very much Alf, you're a gentleman.
The flash on the camera gives a false look to the finish.
I worked upto 400 grit sanding then 0001 wire wool then gave it a coat of sanding sealer before waxing with clear Chestnut. It does not seem to improve the finish how ever many times I wax it.
The Elm is off cuts from a sixteen foot by a foot square lump of reclaimed timber which is about 200 years old.
Could it be the age and how dry the wood is ?
Is the wood sucking the wax in to quickley ?

Thank you

Dean

 

[Chris Knight]

Alf, you're a gentleman.

No she isn't!

 

[joekid]

did you not give it the 000 superfine wire wool,did you sand it on the lathe,, as powertool says it does look a nice piece,

 

[Dean]

Alf, you're a gentleman.

No she isn't!

OOPS!!!
Sorry Alf

I do some times refer to my good lady as ALF..................sorry :wink:

Dean

 

[Alf]

Alf, you're a gentleman.

No she isn't!

It's the thought that counts.

No worries, Dean; at one point we were warning new members but it spoilt the fun. :wink: :lol: No idea on your finishing issue, except maybe more sanding sealer?

Cheers, Alf

 

[CHJ]

Welcome to the forum Dean, what exactly do you not like about the finish, is it that certain areas of end grain are difficult to smooth out, or is it that the growth ring boundaries are not filled and therefor can still be felt?

If you have another scrap to try on, try sanding down and then applying finishing oil applied with 320-400 grit, this will form a 'dust' sludge that will fill any open pores and may give you a surface more to your liking, when the oil finish has hardened, (may take a few weeks) then apply soft wax and you will get a high gloss finish.

 

[Dean]

Thanks CHJ, the surface of the job is very smooth and satisfactory to the touch but despite how the pics look the best finish I can get is a satin finish. The fruit bowl in the link below was turned from the same wood and finished the same way but has a much better finish...?????

http://suprfile.com/src/1/5nz4i5s/fruit bowl.JPG

Thanks

Dean

 

[Anonymous]

Dean, may I suggest that you go through the grits (on the next piece) and use either 1000 or 1200 wet'n'dry ... dry to finish... this will leave a shiny surface if you allow the abrasive paper to clog very slightly...

Apply the chestnut cellulose sanding sealer (or melamine) and burnish dry with paper towel. If there are are any slight ridges in the finish, use 0000 wire wool very gently to cut back the surface. This should leave a fairly hard shine ...

Apply a very light coat of woodwax 22 by hand (lathe stopped) and polish off (lathe running)...

at this point you have two choices if you want a deeper shine: apply several more light coats burnishing off between applications ...

or lightly rub the piece with chestnut wax stick or other carnuba based wax... it's important to be very sparing , less is more!; burnish this off gently allowing the friction to soften the wax and spread it evenly. again, repeat the process until you achieve the desired 'shine'.

In all sanding / polishing it's a good idea to do it in one direction...

Applying a good finish has parallels with french polishing, the idea is to build micro layers to give a good depth of 'shine'

 

[Dean]

Thank you all very much for your help and advice, it has all been informative and helpful.
On the next job I will take more time on the sanding and waxing as the helpful replies have suggested.

Thank you ALL

Dean

 

[PowerTool]

If your work is anything like the fruit bowl,would love to see more of it - looks great (would also like to see how you mounted the banana in the chuck as well.. :wink: )

Andrew

 

[Dean]

Thank you very much powertool for your kind words of encouragement.

I cannot tell you how to hold the banana in the chuck because I would have to kill you if I did :wink:
Thank you

Dean

 

[CHJ]

Thanks CHJ, the surface of the job is very smooth and satisfactory to the touch but despite how the pics look the best finish I can get is a satin finish. The fruit bowl in the link below was turned from the same wood and finished the same way but has a much better finish...?????
Dean

This may be down to surface speed when finishing, due to the differing diameters the surface speed of the bowl will have been much greater producing more friction.

On small items when applying cellulose sanding sealer try burnishing immediately while still moist, first with a sealer damp cloth, immediately followed by a dry cloth, this will produce a hard glossy finish which is further enhanced by the soft wax.

If you overdo the amount of sealer you will get build up streaks, ether blend these out with a drop of wet sealer or thinners or 'sand' them off with grey NyWeb (Chestnuts) or equivalent.

I personally find that after going through the grades of grit to 320 I get better results by using the the red, green & grey nywebs to finish off.

A melamine enhanced finish over cellulose sanding sealer will give you a higher gloss level, the spray versions are much easier to use than the canned versions which I found needed a considerable amount of practice to get an even, non streaky finish with.

See This thread

An increase in gloss can be gained by using a burnishing cream between coats of sealer etc.

With melamine finish I find it is best to leave the final coat at least 24hrs to cure before burnishing.