EEE-Ultra-Shine and Behlen Woodturners Finish

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eskimo

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I have been finishing a number of pens with 2 coats of EEE, followed by 2 coats of Woodturners Finish. The result looks great with a high shine and I find it a lot easier to apply that CA, but I'm not sure what to expect as far as durability.

Does anyone have any experience with Behlens Woodturners Finish?

Thanks, Bob
 
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Friction polish doesn't have much for durability. Wears off pretty quickly. It's fine for ornamental items, but doesn't work well for pens. You might consider trying enduro, better durability and easier than CA. IMHO [:)]
 
Hi,
You might want to try Enduro, more consistant than CA, you just have to wait till it cures. i just tried it for the first time and I am impressed. I happebn to love the feel of shelac friction polish, but don't like the way it wears off so fast. I am assuming Behlens Woodturners Finish is a friction polish.
 
One thing that must be understood about EEE is that is not a finish... it is intended as an abrasive compound.
It works best if you have at least one coat of finish on the job first.

So if im working with friction polish say shelawax... I'll sand up to the desired gritt then i'll lay on a couple of coats of friction polish... until I'm more or less happy with the build... them I'll have at it with a but of EEE then another light coat of friction polish.... maybe EEE and polish again till I have the result I'm after.

EEE will impart a but of a finish to bare wood but it will be very short lived on its own.

cheers
 
I have used this combination for small "artsy" bowls. but notice that the shine wears off on utility ware pretty quickly. Looks nice for a while, tho. I have used the EEE for pens, in a preliminary step, but since I usually go to 12000 MM, this is counter-productive. It looks like the tripoli is more coarse than the MM
 
I would have to agree that if you are sanding with higher grits like above 1200, particularly on plastics of fuuly choked plastic finishes EEE is pretty pointless.

I have run my own tests on EEE V's the micro abasive I get from my local auto refinish suppliers
and the micro abrasive is all over the EEE on the plastics.
where EEE real comes into it own is in conjunction with friction polishes on timber.... it is also very effective on a variety of timber finishes where the grain isn't fully choked and covered or isn't yet so.
It functions in a similar way to the abrasive stage of french polishing.
the abrasive in EEE starts off "reasonably coarse" and breaks down as it is worked to a finer state... it may also slurry finish and abrasive into the grain in a similar way to that found in the abrasive stage in french polishing.

It is recomended and I have found it to be true that you must put at least one coat of finish over EEE or it WILL disapoint.

my reconing is that I like at least 2 coats of shelawax over EEE.
That I have found good sucess and durability with .

the other point of EEE is that you don't need to sand as far....
depending on how hard & open the wood is i will usualy stop at 600 before I apply finish If Im using EEE.... sometimes I wll go further

I know people who stop at 400.... & their pens look pretty schmic to me.

I know a couple of people who use EEE to rub out flat surface finishes on larger items .... I have not tried this but those i know rave about it in this application.



As for the norvus polish.... I dont know what the gritt is in it, but the most common way I have seen it is as a plastics industry repair and maintenence kit.
with two bottles of "stuff" there is the coarser " scratch removal" bottle and the much cleaner and finer cleaner and polish.
I have seen this sytem used on large areas of clear acrilic and the job positively glows whithout any of that " fine scratches polished look"
Afterall norvus ( atleast here) are a windscreen repair company.

cheers
 
soundman,
I'm thinking you might be referring to Novus?
http://www.novuspolish.com/
I got a response back from them on their "fine" polish...#2. It's about 1200 grit. Don't bother with the #1 if you put RenWax or something like that on your pens. #1 is more like a glass cleaner than a polishing agent.

Bob,
I think you'll be disappointed with any of the friction polishes after you do a successful CA/Enduro/lacquer finish. They will hold their shine for what seems like forever compared to a friction polish which, generally, wears off very quickly.
 
I was initially taught to use Behlens Woodturner Finish for all of my pens. However here is a summary I put in another on-line forum a while back of an experiment I did a year ago or so. I have not gone back to Behlens since reaching my conclusion (I still use Behlens for non-pen applications though). I find CA to be dramatically more durable for pens then the Behlens.

Experiment

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I've been using the Behlens mostly because that was what Woodcraft suggested. This weekend, as an experiment, I did the full sealer, BLO/CA, Renaissance wax top-coat finish route. Observations in comparison to a cocabolla cigar pen with Behlens:

- The BLO/CA approach really didn't take much more time then the Behlens
- The BLO/CA approach is markedly shinier
- The BLO/CA approach fills in the wood pores better
- The BLO/CA approach feels better (that might also be Renaissance versus carnuaba wax differences)

Bottom line, while both approachs work, I expect to go the CA/BLO route for pens in the future and save the Behlens for other turning projects that are less hands-on then pens.
 
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