Bubinga finish question

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beaster456

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Dec 30, 2012
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I've been using some bubinga wood lately but getting it to take a nice finish has been difficult. No matter how many coats of linseed oil I put on it always dries out and looks gunky. Anybody have any suggestions? The cocobolo and marblewood take 1-2 coats and keep shining. It's a really pretty wood and I would like it to stay that way. Thanks
 
A lot of the oily tropical woods require no oil finish, just a good polish. There are some woods that you really can't get to absorb some oil finishes. That is definitely the case with the rosewood family. You should try that on the cocobolo. Bubinga is supposed to be similar to the rosewoods even though it is not a dahlbergia species, but harder and heavier that even Brazilian rosewood.
beaster456 said:
I've been using some bubinga wood lately but getting it to take a nice finish has been difficult. No matter how many coats of linseed oil I put on it always dries out and looks gunky. Anybody have any suggestions? The cocobolo and marblewood take 1-2 coats and keep shining. It's a really pretty wood and I would like it to stay that way. Thanks
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I use bubinga with some craft work I do. I use a lacquer based sanding sealer as a base coat. I then hand rub a couple of coats of gloss spar urethane. It gives a nice, durable finish with a good luster, but not a high gloss.
 
I was reading somewhere that some of the furnitures makers use solvent based varnish to get that nice shine.
lightsoutcalls said:
I use bubinga with some craft work I do. I use a lacquer based sanding sealer as a base coat. I then hand rub a couple of coats of gloss spar urethane. It gives a nice, durable finish with a good luster, but not a high gloss.
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Don't use linseed oil on anything except maybe a shovel handle!

Bubinga finishes up beautifully with a nice luster if you use an oil blend like danish oil.
I recommend against buffing unless you have filled all the pores or else buffing compound fills the pores.

Using an oil blend will both penetrate the wood and build up a surface coat that helps to fill the pores.
Apply a light coat and then wipe it down with an old t-shirt after about a half hour.
Let that dry and then repeat until you like the look.
 
Burl Source said:
Don't use linseed oil on anything except maybe a shovel handle!

Bubinga finishes up beautifully with a nice luster if you use an oil blend like danish oil.
I recommend against buffing unless you have filled all the pores or else buffing compound fills the pores.

Using an oil blend will both penetrate the wood and build up a surface coat that helps to fill the pores.
Apply a light coat and then wipe it down with an old t-shirt after about a half hour.
Let that dry and then repeat until you like the look.
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Thanks I'll try danish oil. Any reason not to use linseed oil? I've always seen people use it, never heard anything bad about until now
 
beaster456 said:
Thanks I'll try danish oil. Any reason not to use linseed oil? I've always seen people use it, never heard anything bad about until now
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I probably overstated my dislike.
In my opinion boiled linseed oil is not a good wood finish by itself. It works well as a penetrating preservative but can over darken and muddy the look of the wood.
But when used as a component in an oil blend the results are a lot different. Here we mix our own blend which is a third each of boiled linseed oil, thinner and varnish.
This penetrates the surface but also builds up a little for a smoother surface. You get the same thing with the other oil blends like danish oil.
When it comes to finishing both natural and stabilized woods my favorite finish is watco brand danish oil.
This way the oil that penetrates brightens the colors and the surface finish helps to show the grain patterns and figure more clearly.

Once again, this is just my opinion. You can get a good finish using a variety of methods.
When it comes down to it, the best method is the one that works best for you. You will discover that after experimenting and trying different things.
 
A mate lacquer works well if you don't want to use oils. I just made a nice cutting board with Bubinga and rock maple. I usually use cutting board oil/beeswax but I ended up using a mate finish lacquer just for the no maintenance, and the fact that the new owner probably won't use it to cut on any way. The lacquer really made the Bubinga pop.
 
What I do with wood that has tiny pores is mask off the exposed tang with pinstriping tape and tape the blade and spray a light coat of satin finish polyurethane and then rub it in with my finger and let dry for 4 hours and sand. Repeat except let dry overnight and then sand lightly and finish sand to 800 grit and buff lightly. Just finished an Amboyna wood handle this week and it came out with a warm glow that was not glossy but had the sheen similar to a professional oil finish on an expensive shotgun. You sand away everything but the filled pores and they "disappear". I used to use Zap a Gap brand of superglue but it dries shiny and the pores look like shiny little dots on an otherwise warm semi-gloss finish. Flat clear lacquer works as well but the poly (satin) is best in my opinion...I like Minwax brand. On Cocobolo and Desert Ironwood I just sand and buff like Laurence and Stacy suggested.
 
hand sand to 2500
If you made it up to 600 it is just four more steps to 2500 and every step is lighter as the one before

I've read that people think lin seed oil is good because it was used in the old days.
But it was used in the old days because it was available.
 
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