# Suggestions for a finish



## Dan.S.314 (Sep 2, 2012)

I've tried about a dozen trial and error finishing techniques so far, and now want to get some more expert ideas. So far I have tried different poly finishes, a few oils, woodturner's finish, and some other stuff. I preffer high gloss finishes, but like to try and keep the finish appearing thin. I'd like to here any ideas you have though, no matter how long it takes to apply, or how complex in ratios, or the level of gloss. 
Thanks for your input,

Dan


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## Mike1950 (Sep 2, 2012)

Dan, what are you finishing?


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## woodsmith (Sep 3, 2012)

Are you wanting basic knowledge or for a specific project?

I have used only a few myself, brush on poly for benches (ERC), Watcos Danish oil for my latest entertainment center and tung oil on a large group of alder doors and 3 flights of stairs. I have built about 40 large country western dance floors (t&g oak) and all of them got a tung oil finish. 

I love the danish oil finish on the erc wood. The alder doors finished like jewelry boxes and my dance floors held up for years, so I guess its a wood by wood guess as to the best finish.

Give us some specifics and FYI I am not an expert, just a dabbiler.


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## Dan.S.314 (Sep 3, 2012)

Mike1950 said:


> Dan, what are you finishing?



Mostly bowls. I have about 10 birch bowls drying in bags that should be done drying in a few weeks. I've never tried tung oil, so I'll take a go at that. Do you need to thin it with mineral spirits or anything before hand? I like poly finishes; danish oil not as much. Didn't deliver much gloss on walnut and began having a wierd chemical smell after about a week. I have some nice maple burl that I haven't turned yet, but I'm also looking for a finish to put on it that will show off the grain. All in all, I'm interested in the basics of finishing.
Dan


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## DKMD (Sep 3, 2012)

I generally like an oil finish for 'grain popping' purposes. Often I'll use walnut oil or BLO as a base coat for that reason. 

A thin coat of shellac will help seal the wood which makes a shiny finish easier to accomplish. I've kind of moved away from shiny finishes, but I like lacquer if that's what I'm after. I don't have the equipment to spray a finish, so I've used Deft brand brushing lacquer in the past. I don't particularly like the smell, but it's an easy product to use on turnings for a high gloss shine. You can wet sand the lacquer after it dries and then buff it to a very high gloss.

I've seen good results with WTF as well, but it seems to take a lot of coats to get a really glossy build. Likewise, wipe-on poly can give you a great gloss. I think with any of the film finishes, your best shine will come after buffing. Be careful with the white diamond compound in dark porous woods like walnut… Unless you like little white specks in every pore.:dash2::dash2:

Reactions: Informative 1


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## woodtickgreg (Sep 3, 2012)

For really special pieces I like a hand applied finish, this method has been discussed here before but I'll give a brief how to. I start by sanding to 320. Imo nothing pops the grain like pure tung oil. Apply pure tung oil straight and not thinned, apply heavy and let soak in. Wipe off excess with a clean white rag, wait 24hrs and apply again the same way. A couple of times a day wipe the bowl with a clean white rag and when it stays clean you are ready to start applying the finish. I like to topcoat the tung oil with shellac because it dries fast and seals porus woods like walnut. 2 to 3 coats of shellac and sand with 320 to smooth out. Then start wiping on coats of oil poly, how many coats? Until it looks good to my eye, usually 3 to 4 with a light sanding to remove dust nibs or whatever between coats. The shellac you can get on in a day, the wipe on poly requires 12 to 24 hrs between coats to dry and sand. This method takes a long time to apply but for special pieces it is worth it imo. This can sometimes take a week or more to do right, it took me several trys to really learn this. you can't really screw it up as you sand between coats. The trick is learning how to apply the wipe on poly with a clean rag, thick enough so that it levels out, but not so thick that it runs. I'm so anal about the poly that I will stand by the lathe and keep turning it by hand until the poly starts to set up so I don't get any runs and it flows out.


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## Mike Jones (Sep 3, 2012)

Here is a web site article written by Russ Fairfield before he passed away. there is a ton of good info re: the various finishes typical to woodturners, applications, pro/cons etc. It is a very good place to start...

http://www.woodcentral.com/russ/russindex.shtml

Mike..... in Redding Ca.


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## calebandrewmichael (Oct 20, 2012)

I'm working on food safe finishes since I do plugs for people's ears. I do Beeswax, Mineral oil, and Linseed oil. A 2:1:1 ratio. Food safe, and it won't irritate people's earlobes. Sand and buff right, and you can't get a nice shine.

A really classic finish is beeswax, linseed oil, and turpentine. Not sure about the food safeness of that, but it's popular. And can get a semi-gloss to full gloss finish.


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## duncsuss (Oct 21, 2012)

I tend to treat once-turned and twice-turned bowls differently.

Once-turned (green wood, finished in a single session and allowed to warp as it dries) I simply apply a few coats of spray-on Shellac with a light sanding between coats.

Twice-turned (rough turn, allow it to dry, finish turn) I've experimented with wipe-on polyurethane, wipe-on polyacrylate, spray-on shellac, and my latest (which I really like): several coats of General Finishes "Salad Bowl Finish", followed by the Beall method 3-step buffing (tripoli, white diamond, carnauba wax).

My first step is to sand it through the grits with the bowl on the lathe using a 2" disk sanding system in my cordless drill (I bought the sanding kit from Woodcraft). I usually take it up to 400 grit.

Then I apply the Salad Bowl Finish -- very thin coats, I've used anywhere from 5 to 10 coats depending on how thirsty the wood seems. Very light sanding in between coats -- mostly just to remove any dust nibs that have stuck to the surface.

Then I do the tripoli/white diamond/carnauba wax buffing. The longer I spend on the tripoli, the better it looks after the white diamond treatment.

I didn't buy the Beall system -- just a couple of 6" buffing wheels from Harbor Freight and a couple of MT2 mandrels from some place on eBay.

The end results have really pleased me -- it's like the wood itself is glowing, with no real signs of a surface treatment.

HTH

[attachment=12452]
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[attachment=12454]


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## Dan.S.314 (Oct 21, 2012)

duncsuss said:


> I tend to treat once-turned and twice-turned bowls differently.
> 
> Once-turned (green wood, finished in a single session and allowed to warp as it dries) I simply apply a few coats of spray-on Shellac with a light sanding between coats.
> 
> ...



Holy cow THANK YOU! That is pretty much my dream finish, now I ahve to try that! Very, very, very nice bowl.


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## duncsuss (Oct 22, 2012)

Dan.S.314 said:


> Holy cow THANK YOU! That is pretty much my dream finish, now I ahve to try that! Very, very, very nice bowl.



You're welcome -- and thanks for the compliment  I can only take some of the credit, if the beauty wasn't already in the wood there'd be nothing for me to reveal.

Another I treated the same way -- this one is a piece of apple tree; I made the mistake of not completely filling the cracks before buffing it, so some waxy build-up is visible. (I used thin CA to seal the edges of the cracks then medium CA to fill them -- some painters' tape to stop it from simply running out the other side of the crack.)

[attachment=12462]


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