Question about Shellawax

[kooster]

I just finished a bamboo Comfort and applied 7 coats of Shellawax as indicated. However, it still maintains a satin finish on it. Is there anything I can do at this point to bring out a higher shine on this pen? It's been curing for a day or so. Is it possible to use the new CA finishing kit over something like Shellawax or is there another option? The pen looks great, only not as shiny as I would have liked, especially after all those coats of SW.

 

[D.Oliver]

Have you had this problem on a lot of pens or just this one? You could try buffing it with something like Hut Ultra gloss or White diamond.

 

[StephenM]

Have you put it on the lathe on high speed and tried buffing it out? Then as Mr Oliver says, try Hut or my favorite, floor wax with carnuba.

 

[jrap]

The higher grit you use to sand the wood before applying the shellewax will increase shine. Also when putting on the finish put the lathe on the highest speed

 

[rwinn2]

Never turned bamboo but I've use SW on a lot of different woods and never had unsatisfactory results. Most finish looking like glass. My method (surely not the only or even the best) includes sanding at 600 rpm 320, 400 then 600 grits. I then apply one coat of 2 pound cut shellac liberal and wipe off excess after 15 seconds or so and dry for 30-60 minutes. Then I sand/polish with micro-mesh pads at 1200-1800 rpm through 12,000 grit increasing the speed from 1200 rpm with each finer grit. (I think the pads I have start @ 1,500 grit). I then apply 3 coats of SW 15 minutes apart. Applied with heavy duty paper shop towels folded twice over and press hard. The key SW is HEAT... its a friction turners wax.

 

[kooster]

I haven't had this problem with other pens and I go through the entire gammit of sanding grits to 12,000. Then, and this may be overkill, I do the entire MM grits. Frankly, it seems like after 3 coats of SW, the finish begins to dull and (cloud) to a satin finish. I use a light touch, 600 grit sanding between coats and a soft cloth for buffing at high speed. Just a note, the SW is new. I'm applying it according to direction so I'm really stumped as to why it's not producing a "glass-like" finish. I will try the actual buffer with white diamond comp. and see what happens.
Thanks again for the great advice.

 

[Tom T]

I use Mylands friction and never sand between coats. I also use mm up through 12,000 and the apply the finish. Using very small piece of old t-shirt. Mine look very nice, at least I think so. Very shinny. Only 3-4 coats of polish.

 

[rwinn2]

I agree with Tom T... never sand between applications. If you think about it, sanding/polishing thru 12,000 then sanding with 600 grit between apps makes no sense (at least not to me). I get less liberal with the second and third coats and bump the speed up to get some heat on it. Try letting it set for an hour or so before handling? Maybe you just got a bad blank or?
Don't give up... each time I screw one up I find one more thing that does NOT work and move on.