Couple of Questions

[Mike Powell]

I see alot of info coming out on finishes, and I have a couple of questions of my own now.

Over my CA (gorillia glue) I use jewlers rouge as a polish (white bar). Do you think that a wax would get a better shine?

Also I like the looks of Shellawax, but it doesnt last. Is it ok to put CA over this, or will it not hold.

Thanks guys.

 

[plantman]

CA will not permently stick to a waxed finish, but does need a sanded clean surface to apply correctly. I use a three step buffing system if I am going to use a wax finish. First is a brown buffing stick, ( to remove deeper scratches) followed by the white, (to remove the finer scratches) and finished with a carnauba stick or auto wax ( to polish and fill any remaining scratches and make your blank moisture proof. You can do this on the lathe running at high speed. Press the sticks against the blanks to transfer material. I use brown paper towling to bring to a shine. Don't apply to much pressure in one spot or you will scortch your blank. Any wax finish will need to be rebuffed after time, as it will pick up dirt and oil from your hands, but it will give you a long lasting moisture proof seal. And for your other question, wax will give you a better shine because jewlers rouge contains an abrasive to remove tarnish and leaves micoscoptic scratches on the surface. If you are using anything other than wood for your blanks, I would not use wax. Use a plastic polish such as One-Step or some other brand made for that material. Many people use buffing wheels. I have them, but see no reason to remove my blanks from the lathe and take a chance of having them catch on the pads and be thrown across the shop. Just my way of doing things. Jim S

 

[Dan Masshardt]

You don't need anything under ca besides a smooth sanded surface

What are you using to sand the ca smooth before the rouge?

Why not stick to one of the well known polishing options or a combination thereof

- micromesh

- high grit sanding and plastic polish

- high grit sanding the buffing wheels



I personally use a few fine abrasive pads followed by plastic polish

 

[plano_harry]

Mike, I never mix CA with anything, but some use BLO - boiled linseed oil.

if you are wet sanding CA with 400, 600 and 9 pads of micromesh, stopping lathe to sand lengthwise and wiping of grit/slurry between each grit change, you shouldn't need anything beyond Meguair's Ultimate Polish or Novus to get a perfect shine.

 

[kovalcik]

Generally unwaxed shellac can be used under or over most other finishes. If you make your own friction polish from equal parts shellac, alcohol, and BLO, it would probably work fine under CA. The only question is why you would want to. I guess you could use it to seal the wood first. Other than that, I don't see that it would add anything over plain CA or BLO and CA. BLO will darken the wood and make the grain pop which might be what you like about the shellawax finish.

 

[Pjohnson]

Generally unwaxed shellac can be used under or over most other finishes. If you make your own friction polish from equal parts shellac, alcohol, and BLO, it would probably work fine under CA. The only question is why you would want to. I guess you could use it to seal the wood first. Other than that, I don't see that it would add anything over plain CA or BLO and CA. BLO will darken the wood and make the grain pop which might be what you like about the shellawax finish.

This is a standard for me with all of my wooden blanks. The BLO pops the grain.
I find the finish along with CA is VERY high gloss.

Thinking about the process: multiple applications of Shellac-BLO turned on the lathe is similar to a french polish.

 

[Mike Powell]

Its been a while since Ive even seen my lathe, so please forgive my brain as it doesnt remember the numbers.

I turn my blank, sand starting with 320, then 420, then I got to MM. The two or three coats of CA, then sand with the second on up with MM. Then the Rouge, and use it as a friction polish with a Micro fiber rag (careful it will burn your fingers). I put the rag under the blank and the rouge on the top till I get some build up on the rag, then let it get warm.

 

[Lenny]

Everyone has their own methods but i never sand bare wood with mm. I usually sand with 400-600-800-1000 and sometimes continue on even higher. THEN i clean the blank with CA accelerator. Three coats of thin CA followed by several coats of Medium with shots of accelerator between coats as/if needed. From here it's the same procedure as finishing a poly resin blank. Wet sanding through all grits of MM. At this point the blank should be nice and shiny. NEXT I apply a coat of Novus 2 and, once it is dry, turn on the lathe and buff it off with a small piece of old tshirt or other cotton cloth. Finally, a few cots of Meguire's PlastX apllied to the spinning blank with again a cotton cloth, this time with some pressure "gripping" the spinning blank at my lathes highest speed.
PenMan1 shared this method with me and I have followed it as best as i understood it ever since!

 

[sschering]

I'm with Lenny up through the Micro mesh but then I'll go to a high speed buff with a loose cotton wheel dressed with a white rouge made for plastics. buffing at 45° and 90° to the sanding done on the lathe.

I don't usually MM a wood blank unless it's segmented with metals. Then I keep going till the metal segments shine before finishing. No amount of CA will make scratched metal look good