polishing osmo polyx ?

craigs · 22 Apr 2019

Hi All,

Im a big fan of polyx, but i want to achieve a glassy finish on some boxes. what are thoughts about 3-4 coats then polishing with some festool polishing agent? would that achieve the high gloss result im looking for?

Do you have any other recommendations for polishing compound or another way to achieve this with polyx? (i mention it because the 3 boxes already have 2 coats and wondering how far i should got)

Thanks

Craig

Trevanion · 22 Apr 2019

Probably best to go at it with a bare polishing pad with no agent, a polishing agent would probably smear into the finish and look horrible since it's not technically a "hard" finish like a varnish or lacquer.

custard · 22 Apr 2019

I'm also a big fan of Osmo, but no finish is perfect and Osmo's no exception. One of it's shortcomings is that it has a very compressed gloss spectrum, the matt is a bit too shiny and the gloss isn't shiny enough.

If you really want a high gloss look at options like french polishing or a hard wax (ie high carnauba content) over a sanding sealer.

craigs · 22 Apr 2019

I think ill give your hard wax recipe a go, and these they just wont be as glossy as I hoped, but thats ok.

custard · 22 Apr 2019

The big advantage you've got Craig is that a box isn't subject to a lot of wear and tear, so pretty much any finish is a possibility. The easiest high gloss is a hard wax over sanding sealer, and if you've using an open grained timber like say Oak or Ash then you can get a useful amount of grain filling from that approach, so results like this are easily achievable,

But if you're a total perfectionist then French Polishing isn't too difficult on moderate sized projects like boxes, and it's also fairly affordable. There's a brilliance you can achieve with shellac that really has no equal, I can't capture it in a photo but in real life it's unmistakeable, plus shellac has a very nice tactile quality to it, where as with wax you will need a high carnauba content wax as hand temperature is enough to soften beeswax and make frequently handled pieces feel that bit tacky.

Good luck!