Finishing walnut

[gsdoby]

I recently have been making some pens out of some walnut blanks given to me. The first few turned out OK using the Hut Crystal Coat friction polish. However, the last 2 or 3 seem to have a waxy llking buildup that goes with the grain in parts of the pen. I have recently sharpened my skew about the time the problem began. The polish has a use by date but is still not that old. I am a new turner. Could it be tool marks. I the finish feels OK after sanding. I thought maybe I was using too much polish, but I tried to use less and that only made the problem worse. Any Suggestions.

 

[JimGo]

Have you used a sanding sealer before you start sanding If not, you may have some open grain that the wax is getting trapped in. I'm not even close to being an expert, though, so the others may have some good suggestions.

 

[challagan]

It definitely sound slike wax in the open grain which is typical or walnut. Like Jim says you need to get those poors filled before you put any wax on it or you will get the white streaks in it. I just hand applied lacquer for my first coat when i was using lacquer. Now I use the sanding sealer from Enduro with the gloss coat.

Corey

 

[vick]

I agree with the other that it sounds like the open grain of the wood is getting your polish stuck in it. You can fill the grain in several applying BLO and sanding to create a slurry to fill the grain, using sanding sealer, or filling the grain with CA glue are a couple of ways. I do not think Walnut looks right without BLO so the sanding slurry method followed by ca is what I use on Walnut. Not an expert bu that is my preference.

 

[thewishman]

I use CA as a sanding sealer and usually need more than one coat to seal properly. Last time I used 4 coats and had no trouble aith the finish (may have been overkill, but I didn't want those ^@%$# white spots showing through.)

Chris

 

[Rifleman1776]

Even though I consider walnut the King of Woods, IMHO, it is not suitable for making pens. The grain is (usually) too open as others have pointed out. For such a small object as a pen even tiny flaws show up like nose pimples. Write it off as experience and stick with other woods. Same with oak and hickory and a few other woods. Just not the best for pens.

 

[mdburn_em]

I have had very good luck finishing Walnut using CA to fill the pores. I use a coat of thin ca followed as quick as I can by a coat of thick ca and then finish with my normal sanding regimen and whatever finish I'm fond of that day. I have only done highly figured or burled Walnut. I've not had any trouble finding someone to take them off my hands.[]

 

[Dario]

Some of my first pens were made of Walnut burl and never had any problems. Oh yeah, like most, I seal it with thin CA []

Very pretty wood...I should make some of those again [][]