Synthetic Steel Wool

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monophoto

Member
Joined
Mar 13, 2010
Messages
2,542
Location
Saratoga Springs, NY
I routinely use the gray Scotchbrite (or equivalent from other manufacturers) instead of 4/0 steel wool between applications of finish t0 de-nib the surface. I find that it works just as well as steel wool but without leaving tiny bits of steel wire embedded in the finish. It's also great for applying waxes or surface treatments like Howard's Feed'n Wax.

I also keep a maroon Scotchbrite pad in a basket attached to my lathe stand for use in buffing down the bedways so that my tailstock and banjo slide more smoothly.

The white Scotchbrite pads are also occasionally useful to polish a finish without resorting to actual buffing. I've tried using both maroon and green Scotchbrite pads on wood, and they do work well, but I find that I prefer to use sandpaper. But like sandpaper, it is important to use a gentle hand with them - if you rub too hard, the color can transfer to the wood, especially if the timber is light in color.

The basket that I use is actually one of those vinyl-coated wire baskets that originally was intended to be hung from a kitchen drainer to hold silverware - it evntually collected a few cuts in the wire that led to minor rusting which my wife can't tolerate in the kitchen so it got demoted to the shop. It works great for my purposes - the fact that it is a basket means that it is a convenient place to store stuff like the Scotchbrite, a rubber sandpaper cleaner, and a pair of channel-lock pliers (helpful when a fixing gets stuck on the spindle), but shavings just fall through the wire mesh.
 

leehljp

Member Liaison
Joined
Feb 6, 2005
Messages
9,314
Location
Tunica, Mississippi,
This is not quite in the same category but paper sacks will "sand" and polish along the lines of 12000MM.

Steel wool of different kinds do fine jobs, but they do often leave behind tiny bits of steel threads that break off. However, for me, on occasion, I will use steel wool. I used to use it on flatwork all the time. One wood (oak?) seemed to keep a bunch of break-offs when I was making something for someone else, so I cut back on steel wool overall, and do not use it on pens at all. - Pens are viewed much more closely than large pieces of wood.
 

keithbyrd

Member
Joined
Sep 2, 2011
Messages
2,493
Location
Mount Wolf, PA
I am going to have to be careful! I use steel wool a lot when finishing a pen but have not seen any metal fragments in the finish. I always use my air compressor to blow off the dust etc before applying finish. Will take the next few and put under a magnifying glass and see what I find. Thanks for the cautions!
 

leehljp

Member Liaison
Joined
Feb 6, 2005
Messages
9,314
Location
Tunica, Mississippi,
I am going to have to be careful! I use steel wool a lot when finishing a pen but have not seen any metal fragments in the finish. I always use my air compressor to blow off the dust etc before applying finish. Will take the next few and put under a magnifying glass and see what I find. Thanks for the cautions!
Keith, it happens mostly to open grain woods like oak, walnut, padauk, etc. However if course sand paper is used in the beginning on smooth grained woods like maple and others, then gouges from the course sandpapers occur, and the steel wool can get caught there and stay.
 
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