Newbie to this, a few q's

[TomSteebs]

hi,
i bought myself a lathe this week and had a go with it yesterday (ie setting it up reading the manual, learning what was what and rounding some pine/beech off)

i then tried to make a non round piece and it went okay.

today i made my first piece piece for a air rifle bolt. this is my main passion in life and i wanted to make a wooden bolt for it hence why i bought a lathe

my question is;

i understand to get a hard wearing gloss/shine finish involves friction polishing? or melamine?

at the mo i was just going to oil it.....

i have loads of other blanks (ebony, zebrano, cocobolo, brazilian kingwood etc.....) and my question is will these be able to finish the same as walnut (with regards to friction polish or melamine)?


cheers
tom

 

[Dalboy]

Most wood will take the finishes you mentioned there are a few that may need a wipe over with something to clean them as they are quite oily such as lignum vitae

 

[tekno.mage]

I wouldn't use friction polish for something that gets handled a lot. melamine lacqure will be more durable, but may have problems over some of the exotic and oily timbers you mention. I personally would use a hardwax oil finish (like Osmo oil or Chestnut Hardwax oil) and if I wanted it to have a gloss appearance I'd buff it on a buffing wheel. Hardwax oil finishes are pretty durable and resistant to fingermarks, water splashes etc.

 

[bellringer]

I would say use oil but apply a lot of coats over a period

 

[Spindle]

Hi

I know this will sound flippant but why not use the same finish as you use to maintain the stock?

Regards Mick

 

[TomSteebs]

Hi

I know this will sound flippant but why not use the same finish as you use to maintain the stock?

Regards Mick

hi,

sorry for the late replies, didn't receive any emails..

the stocks are walnut and to the best of my knowledge are walnut oiled and i occasionally wipe them over with danish oil.

the thing with the bolt is it will be gripped hard and pulled and pushed, the stock just has light contact....


as per finish, i currently have various oils and also have chestnut acrylic friction polish and Renaissance wax which apparently work well?

if these aren't ideal i will look into the mentioned

cheers
tom

 

[marcros]

If it's your own gun rather than a customers, why not turn a couple. Try one with oil and renaissance wax and leave the other unfinished. That way if the first one doesn't work as well as expected, you have a blank canvas to try again. If you were to use something like ebony or rosewood you could probably polish them until they shine with no finish required. Jimi43 did something this way with micro mesh although I forget what it was for.

 

[woodfarmer]

dry oak soaked in oil has been a traditional bearing material for centuries.

 

[CHJ]

For something that is to be handled regularly if you don't want to use Gun Stock Oil (True Oil ?) I would use Hard Wax Oil or sealer and Melamine enhanced lacquer.