Help! Finishing oily wood like Iron Wood and Lignum Vitae

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Dean "Sawdust" Hupp

Dean "Sawdust" Hupp

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Location
Sac CA
Any suggestions on what to use on these woods? CA won't stick, I tried some 'High Friction Polish' from Craft Supply USA. Didn't like the finished product.

Thanks, 'Sawdust'
 
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There are a number of woods labeled "ironwood" depending on where you are at, the species changes. True lignum vitae (as compared to Argentine Lignum Vitae) is one of the classic ironwoods.

Lignum is oily and wiping it with a solvent such as acetone or denatured alcohol or CA accelerator will remove some of the surface oils and increase the bonding.

Over burnishing the wood surface may cause bonding issues too.

Acrylics such as wood turners finish seem to work well for me with desert ironwood
 
Just finished a lignum designer. Used CA / BLO with no problems. It seems this wood is as brittle as it is hard. Have to be real careful assembling the pen or the wood will crack. If all goes well the wood is beautiful.
 
Shameless plug... I use Craft Coat for oily woods with out any problems. A little practice with it and you can achieve anywhere from satin to high gloss finishes with it.
 
kenlholley said:
It seems this wood is as brittle as it is hard. Have to be real careful assembling the pen or the wood will crack.
Click to expand...
Really? That's not my experience with Lignum Vitae at all. Although the wood is hard, I find it to be relatively easy to turn (much like olive), but it will gum up sandpaper very quickly. LV is not nearly as difficult to turn nor as tough on tools as Teak or DIW. Lignum Vitae has a highly interlocked grain which usually makes it quite resistant to splitting.

Quite a while ago, I experimented with http://www.penturners.org/forum/f28/finishing-lignum-vitae-its-own-resin-21715/. The results initially looked promising, but the shine didn't hold up over time. I've since reverted to a CA finish. I just wipe the blank down with CA accelerator prior to putting on the first coat. That strips the oil from the wood surface, giving the glue something to bond to.

I hope that helps,
Eric
 
This is a DIW I did a few weeks ago. I tried a few different finish options and finally just buffed it out...much better this way IMHO.
 

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Dean "Sawdust" Hupp said:
Any suggestions on what to use on these woods? CA won't stick, I tried some 'High Friction Polish' from Craft Supply USA. Didn't like the finished product.

Thanks, 'Sawdust'
Click to expand...

One of the main issues with finishing oily woods is that, the wood can not be sanded to fine, 400 grit is more than enough. These woods are so tight in their grain that, after 400 grits the wood starts to get polished/burnished from the higher grits and the fine sawdust completely blocks any chances to finishes to adhere to. What you have to remember is that, when I say "fine sawdust" produced from higher sanding grits, the natural oils of those woods will create a sludge with the combination of fine sawdust, oils and heat, the air blower won't remove it, it becomes like a "sealant" to the wood, making anything else, very difficult to stick.

So, avoiding this phenomenon to happen and then wiping the wood with, acetone, let dry and then apply thin CA (avoid any thick CA's on these), the thin CA coats (4 or 5) is all you need to create a good protective coat and not run the risk to create a loose skin over the wood that sooner or later will crack and peel out.

This is my way and one that has worked well for me and many other that I know, have adapted this method so, good luck...!

Cheers
George
 
Thanks for the suggestions.

I think my problem with the CA (not including inexpierence) was sanding too fine and not cleaning the wood through enough before finishing and too many coats. It is Desert Ironwood found on my grandfathers property in the Mojave Desert. The Lignum Vitae was purchased from Wood Turningz and supposed to come from the ship Doulos Phos for replacement shaft bearings. Thanks for all the help!
 
Thanks

I think my problem with the CA (not including inexpierence) was sanding too fine and not cleaning the wood through enough before finishing and too many coats. It is Desert Ironwood found on my grandfathers property in the Mojave Desert. The Lignum Vitae was purchased from Wood Turningz and supposed to come from the ship Doulos Phos for replacement shaft bearings. Thanks for all the help!
 
Lignum Vitae cracking

I think the issue with the lignum from Woodturningz is that it is still pretty green. I also did a few turnings, had beautiful results, wiped down with acetone and finished with CA. 1 week later the wood had settled a bit more and I had at least 2 small cracks near the ends. I will be able to repair them but after talking to a few other crafters in my area, I think I will drill them out, let them settle for a week or two and then redrill to ensure that I don't have this issue again.
That said, the wood itself is absolutely gorgeous.
best of luck.
Jim
 
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