Finishing Advice

[Nate Davey]

Rob gave me this wormy, spalted piece of Pecan. This is the shape I was thinking of and with the condition the woods in, this is as thin as I want to take it. I've sanded it to 180 and will go out and take it down to 320. What next???? I was thinking Tung Oil but thought WOP might fill the punky wood better. Looking for advice

PS. Rob, your going to want to turn the rest of that, it's not got many good days left :icon_thum

 

[ScottM]

Nice bowl Nate. I would apply some sanding sealer first. This will help to "firm" up some of the soft spots and prevent all your finish from soaking in.

 

[boxxmaker]

I agree with Scott,I turn quite a bit of that wood and that works good for me.I then use my own blend of danish oil.It leaves a nice natural looking finish.

 

[Nate Davey]

Re: Finishing Advice (Final)

I settled on a good soak of sanding sealer then a single heavy coat of WOP. I think I will get some satin poly and do a couple more. Candid criticism appreciated.

 

[cyclopentadiene]

I usually use sand a pice like this to 400, apply sanding sealer, start with 180 back to 400 grit, reapply another coat and repeat the process. I then wipe down with water to raise the grain, and resand with 320 then 400 and finish with 3 coats of satin waterlox, sanding with 400 grit for coats 1 &2 then 0000 wool before last coat. I then polish with a white scotch brite pad on lathe, apply Briwax and polish again with scotchbrite.
I use the same process for everything I make, however it the wood is solid and closed pore, I do not use sanding sealer.

Perhaps this is overkill but the feel of the final finish is the first that receives attention when someone admires your work.

Note: waterlox darkens the wood. If I wish to retain the lighter color of sokmething like maple, I use a wipe on poly finish with similar prep.

If a piece is composed of a light wood and darker wood i.e. padauk and maple where the darker wood can bleed color into the lighter wood, I use a can spray finish.

Someday I hope to learn to use spray finishes with a HVLP system but have not yet made that leap.