# Best finish for zirocote



## Texasstate (Feb 5, 2020)

What would you recommend ?

I have heard they can be tough to take a finish. First time working with the stuff.

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## phinds (Feb 5, 2020)

If you use poly, you HAVE to start with a coat or two of de-waxed shellac else the poly will take approximately forever to dry. Other than that, most anything should work ok. Spray enamel will go straight on. I've never tried an oil based finish but should work since the wood is already oily (although only lightly so compared to woods such as cocobolo).

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## TimR (Feb 5, 2020)

phinds said:


> If you use poly, you HAVE to start with a coat or two of de-waxed shellac else the poly will take approximately forever to dry. Other than that, most anything should work ok. Spray enamel will go straight on. I've never tried an oil based finish but should work since the wood is already oily (although only lightly so compared to woods such as cocobolo).


Would it help prior to applying the dewaxed shellac to use a solvent like vm&naphtha or acetone to wipe away some of the surface oils? I recall doing that for Blackwood and it seemed to help the shellac adhere and become a primer for the poly. I kept wiping till the color stopped bleeding out.


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## phinds (Feb 5, 2020)

TimR said:


> Would it help prior to applying the dewaxed shellac to use a solvent like vm&naphtha or acetone to wipe away some of the surface oils? I recall doing that for Blackwood and it seemed to help the shellac adhere and become a primer for the poly. I kept wiping till the color stopped bleeding out.


You can but with the de-waxed shellac you don't need to at all.

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## Texasstate (Feb 5, 2020)

I just wiped the backs with alcohol to clean them up before epoxying the liners and they are much darker than before. I hope they do not darken this much after finishing

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## Chris S. (Feb 6, 2020)

What about a catliyzed clear coat like you would use on car paint after you do a couple coats of shellac? You can buy some on amazon in a spray can. Might get you a nice finish. No idea on darkness question. Maybe test some finish ideas before shaping handle so can sand off when done and know exactly what to expect.


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## tocws2002 (Feb 10, 2020)

I've made 1911 grips out of ziricote and used Tru-Oil to finish them without any issues and without any special preparation. I think any finish you use will tend to look darker than the raw wood.

-jason

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## Nature Man (Feb 10, 2020)

Those grips sparkle! Very, very nice! Tru-oil is really hard to beat! Chuck

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## Texasstate (Mar 5, 2020)

This is the knife before finish @ 400 grit 

I wiped with dewaxed shellac and it got super dark as I suspected. Sucks cause I wanted to at least see the figure. Now it looks almost black. 

Sanded the finish off and am going to try something else. Anyone have ideas. I would love to leave cause it looks great without any Finish. 

someone help?

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## Texasstate (Mar 5, 2020)

This is the knife after dewaxed shellac 
I wanna cry hahaha

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## B Rogers (Mar 5, 2020)

Never tried applying CA to a handle but might be worth a try with several coats of thin CA. It typically doesn’t darken wood as much as an oil type finish from my experience. I had the same issue on a ziricote call once. As soon at the BLO was applied, you couldn’t see any grain in it. Maybe test the CA on some scrap first. Or maybe just a nicely buffed wax finish.

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## Texasstate (Mar 5, 2020)

Thinking about the buffed wax finish, I’ve just never done it. Any advice or things to know or watch out for when buffing a wax finish would be very helpful.


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## Texasstate (Mar 5, 2020)

I tried some wipe on poly on a piece of scrap and it’s not as dark as the shellac (which is weird) looking into the wax buffed finish. But may stick to what I know WIPE ON POLY

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## B Rogers (Mar 5, 2020)

Texasstate said:


> Thinking about the buffed wax finish, I’ve just never done it. Any advice or things to know or watch out for when buffing a wax finish would be very helpful.


I typically apply beeswax as the piece is spinning on the lathe. Then I crank the speed up to around 1500-2000 and heat things up and work the wax in with a cloth. After working it in for a minute or so you get a nice satin finish. With the knife handles I’d just rub the hard wax on the wood then use a buffing wheel at a fairly high speed as I mentioned previously. Not the most durable finish but it’s easy to reapply as needed.

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## milkbaby (Mar 7, 2020)

Ziricote can turn really dark depending on the specific piece. I'd say just sand it high and wax and buff it. It should be dense and oily enough that you don't need anything else.

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## Texasstate (Mar 7, 2020)

How high of grit ?

how to wax and buff 
Paste wax is all I have used in the last


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## milkbaby (Mar 9, 2020)

Texasstate said:


> How high of grit ?
> 
> how to wax and buff
> Paste wax is all I have used in the last



In my opinion it depends on how high you're willing to go. It's grippier at 400 grit but can pop more visually if you go to 800, 1000, or higher.

I don't have a buffer, but I just use paste wax and buff it by hand with an old cotton rag. And by cotton rag, I mean towel, undershirt, whatever old stuff I stopped using but kept around for this specific purpose LOL.

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