Looking for experiences with Aussie Oil

[BHuij]

Several months ago, I was assisting with a youth group who would be turning pens for the first time. I wanted them to have a finish that was quick/easy to apply and looked nice; CA was kind of out of the question due to its learning curve. So I bought a small bottle of Aussie Oil and they used it as a friction polish. It worked more or less like I would expect a friction polish to work, and wore off of the pens basically as quickly as I would have expected. From what I can tell, it's just oil and shellac, so largely the same thing as Mylands, shine juice, what have you.

Here's the thing - a week or so ago, I was turning a crochet hook handle. I turned it with a complex enough profile that I didn't want to attempt a CA finish, and it was made from snakewood, so extremely hard/dense wood that can achieve a pretty good luster with no finish at all. I decided to use the Aussie Oil instead despite the expected heavy hand-use of the item.

For the first time, I noticed that the bottle had application instructions. They're pretty different from how I usually apply friction polish. They basically say to hand rub in several coats without powering on the lathe, and let it build gloss that way. There's a footnote that says "you can use it as a friction polish too, go look online for those instructions."

I decided to give it a shot. I sanded the wood up to 600 and then used some Scratch Freee to get it really, really smooth. Proceeded to put on 3 or 4 coats of the Aussie Oil by hand, no significant friction, no heat. Just rubbing it in. Lo and behold, it gave a really nice glow without seeming to build a thick film. Great gloss. And even though I started using it right away, the finish has held up pretty well through many hours of handling. Not perfect, but it didn't instantly go all cloudy like friction polish usually seems to. It seems like hand-application worked better and produced a more durable finish here than applying the same stuff as a friction polish.

Anyone have any idea what the difference is here, or have other tips for how to use this stuff? I was really pleasantly surprised.

 

[Tim R]

I usually sand to 600, then use EEE Ultra Shine to take to about 2000. Then I apply Shellawax cream friction polish. I use Aussie Oil when I'm making a pen with more open grained woods, e.g. padauk or yellowheart. The EEE is a darker color and fills up the pores, making it ugly (technical term). In those situations, I clean the pen with denatured alcohol, and the hand rub in the oil with the lathe off and hand turning. I use pretty much the same pressure as when using a friction polish. I typically do three coats. I follow the instructions and use only one drop at a time and shake the bottle well.

I have been very satisfied with the results.

 

[Mortalis]

I've recently been using EEE and Shellawax on my bowls and am pleasantly pleased with the shine outcome. Now, my bowls do not get 'handled' all that much so I cannot attest to the durability but the ease of use and shine achieved is very good.

 

[wolf creek knives]

I've used it in the past a few times. The last time I used it the finish came out great at first but when I went to give it to the lady that ordered the pen about a week later it had dulled. It was stored in a presentation box but after that I quit using it.