My achilles heel - finishes

[OldWood]

I love the turning part, and am reasonably good at it, but finishing is something I do not look forward to.

I suspect I just get confused by all the finishes there are, and it would possibly help if I had a regime to work to.

One of the areas that has triggered this lack of confidence is that I have near enough ruined several pieces of elm work by oiling them and found that I lost all the lovely colours and shapes that exist in elm - the wood just went dark brown and a long way away from the light and dark that so much exists in elm. I successfully used acryllic spray on three large wych elm platters to get round this but still wonder if that was the best option as that is effectively a skin that could get damaged.

I'm back into the rut again as I've turned a nice piece of elm to a 9" x 2" bowl but am at the finishing point and am at a bit of a loss as to what to do.

Any guidance would be appreciated.

Thanks
Rob

 

[woodpig]

Cellulose sanding sealer then microcrystaline wax is easy and effective.

 

[Dave Brookes]

I agree with Woodpig and would suggest you thin the sealer slightly as you can cover an area faster and not get the darkening where the cloth/brush first touches the surface. You could of course use cellulose sanding sealer spray but watch out for the vapours.

Dave

 

[woodpig]

Yes, good point on the thinning Dave, I forgot that!

 

[CHJ]

Cellulose sanding sealer then microcrystaline wax is easy and effective.

+1 for that, regarding your acrylic lacquer item. Should be quite robust, although taking a few days to cure once cured should be very tough.

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

+4 for CSS and MC wax. Its my goto combo. For an extra lustre if you don't have a buffing wheel system you can very gently scrape a bar of carnauba wax over the spinning piece and paper towel that in moving constantly. It gives a supreme shine and good durability. But practice first.

 

[OldWood]

Many thanks for your assistance and guidance, guys. I've some of the wax coming in on 'loan'' tomorrow and it looks like the first outing for the buffing system.

I haven't seen what's on the tin yet, but I see from a google search that it is used in the food industry and is regarded as safe for food.

Thanks again
Rob

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

Really....I've never heard of food safe wax before. Normally the food safe finishes are oils.

 

[CHJ]

Really....I've never heard of food safe wax before. Normally the food safe finishes are oils.

Canauba wax and others are used to coat food items and fruit to make it shine and preserve.
I hope beeswax is food safe, I've eaten enough in cone form.

 

[BearTricks]

Beeswax is food safe. It's been a common practice for hundreds of years to use it to protect wooden vessels.

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[Lons]

Beeswax is food safe. It's been a common practice for hundreds of years to use it to protect wooden vessels.

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Yep pure beeswax is safe but should be qualified because many people will look at at tin of wax polish in a supermarket which has beeswax written on it and think that's ok when it isn't as there are additives to make it easier to apply to furniture.

Obvious to us but maybe not to any beginner, many of whom lurk around the forums without posting. If you don't know, you don't know after all!

 

[OldWood]

Valid point and it may well be that the M/C wax for turning is similarly modified. I'll see when the tin arrives.
Rob

 

[KimG]

Be sure to buy high quality cellulose thinners to dilute the sealer with, you can buy a gallon of thinners for about a tenner from paint suppliers, but it's not suitable as it is recovered from previous use, fine for cleaning etc, but it also has a small percentage of water in it which can make the finish cloudy, high quality thinners are 100% pure and suitable, but cost more. For myself, I use Chestnut's thinners, you can get them from axminster.

 

[CHJ]

Valid point and it may well be that the M/C wax for turning is similarly modified. I'll see when the tin arrives.
Rob

Don't know what brand of wax you are acquiring but Here's the Safety Data sheet for Chestnuts version.

Although at first glance, like most solvent carrier based products it is a bit daunting; as long as you don't eat the product out of the tin I personally I would consider it safe to use around food utensils once the carrier volatiles have evaporated, much the same as most paste waxes.

The actual quantity of wax left on the surface is miniscule, a matter of a micron or so thick at most.

I often think we can get too obsessive about such finishes, after all we have all lived through life where Gran, Mom, Wife, have applied all manner of polishes to furniture, tables, work surfaces and placed foodstuffs, fruit etc. on them and they have not caused any identified problems.

 

[OldWood]

Absolutely,Chas. But I was somewhat concerned recently when I made a rattle for my baby grandson and the finish came off - I'd previously used Chestnut's hard wax oil successfully for rattles for other babies, but it goes off in the tin too quickly so I used a melamine spray instead, and it just does not stick successfully in this application.

Rob

 

[CHJ]

To help prevent oils going off in the tin reduce the oxidising air gap above the remaining oil by placing some glass marbles or clean pebbles in the tin. They also act as a percussion stirrer when you shake the tin.

 

[OldWood]

To help prevent oils going off in the tin reduce the oxidising air gap above the remaining oil by placing some glass marbles or clean pebbles in the tin. They also act as a percussion stirrer when you shake the tin.

Isn't that what crows do to raise the water level when offered a floating titbit ? Many thanks- such a simple and good idea.

Rob