I love wood !

rebeltf

rebeltf

Joined
Jan 29, 2005
Messages
6,768
Well I just my scales in today , the Gent on eBay sold me some awesome wood @!@! DonsKnives , if you happen to lurk on here , thanks man !
I got some Bocote , which is just.. breathtaking.... some Chechen Rosewood , which is also quite pretty , but the 'takes the cake' is the Ziricote @! My word what beautiful wood... The Ziricote I got is sort of greenish blackish bronish colored , looks almost like lizard skin :D I cant wait to see these finished....
My question to you Experts out there is , what would you recommend for a finish ? I have worked with Cocobolo ,Cedar , Poplar , White and Red Oak , aside from the Cocobolo I used a linseed oil based finish on them and it turned out nice , however with the hard wood such as Cocbolo I had a hell of a time getting any finish to set on it , so I wound up using Beeswax and buffing the heck out of it.
Thanks in advance :)
 
I'm glad you like your wood so much! I thought your subject "I love wood!" would make a great ad for Viagra™! :D TGIF so you guys can get a couple day's break from my lame sense of humor!
 
as a former cabinet maker I would stick with the oils, after years of cleaning and re-oiling you will not have the build up you would with wax.

just my.02
 
I would hardly call myself an expert but I have done a fair amount of woodworking. Tung oil works good. There is a product called watco danish oil that I have seen recomended. I am assuming it is a mixture of oils. I hope they aren't rendering the inhabitants of Denmark to make it.
 
I'm a firm member of the tung oil/Danish oil camp. One of the most durable finishes you can have and easy to touch up with a bit of lemon oil or whatever. Great stuff.

For a high shine you can coat with super glue, sand it off and buff. That fills the pores so buffing compound won't dirty the wood and shines like mad. For most woods this is my preferred finish, but I think for a regular user you'd be better served with tung oil. For whatever reason it's hard to find around here.
 
The tung/Danish is a good way to go.The Ziracote I use,I just polish to a gloss without any oil.Some oil may help,if needed.The Bocote works like the Chechen,and should give you a nice handle.I am amazed at the number of makers who look at a slab of Ziracote and say,"What is it?" It does finish out gorgeous.
 
Wow thanks for the answers guys (and gals just in case :) ).
Hmm I have read about Tung oil and seen it in HomeDepot but never used it , I understand it hardens inside the wood... I read on here , I think , about using superglue too but didnt understand the concept. You put superglue all over the piece of wood ? like you would a varnish ? This sounds sort of interesting. The hard time I had with Cocobolo is because it is so oily I understand. Yea Ziricote is flippin beautiful wood , I took all the pieces last night and put some oil/beezwax combo on them to see how perty they are and the Bocote won the contest I think , it is so pretty in the light.
Thanks again folks , I'm gonna bid on some ironwood too.
 
Superglue can be used to fill cracks and pores. Thin superglue for cracks, thicker to fill pores. Spread it on, let it harden, then I like to sand it all off so you can't see it's there. It's good for fossil ivory. Scott Slobodian uses it like varnish to finish his woods and gets a great finish. I can never spread it evenly enough to get a final finish out of it.

I vote for Danish oil or tung oil!
 
Well I tried two different methods on finishing these Cocobolo scales. One I used a linseed oil and beezwax , first I rubbed in the linseed oil a drop or three at a time and buffed it in until it was no longer tacky , I let that finish drying then buffed in some beeswax , this looked pretty nice and was quick to do , how long it lasts is another story. I also bought some Tung oil and tried that according to directions , it looks nice now but I am curious to see if it really does dy once those Cocobolo oils come to surface again.
By the way I used 2000 grit on the scales and denatured alcohol on paper towels to clean them a inute or two before putting on finishes , before the oil rises back .
 
ddavelarsen said:
I'm a firm member of the tung oil/Danish oil camp. One of the most durable finishes you can have and easy to touch up with a bit of lemon oil or whatever. Great stuff.

For a high shine you can coat with super glue, sand it off and buff. That fills the pores so buffing compound won't dirty the wood and shines like mad. For most woods this is my preferred finish, but I think for a regular user you'd be better served with tung oil. For whatever reason it's hard to find around here.
Click to expand...

I have used tung oil. I have heard of beeswax and bought some this weekend to try out. I have heard of the super glue thing. Can you use the superglue AFTER a wood has been treated with tung oil? I have some rosewood that has little "worm holes" in it. I think they look cool, but are a little sharp on the finished piece. I was looking for a way to smooth it out. It sounds like this is the way to go.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top