Finish over friction polish

[Dean]

I recently turned a pepper mill and finished it with the ebeaut EEE and friction cream, looks great but now I'm concern that the finish will not hold up. Is there something I can put on top of this to fortify the finish? Renaissance wax or something like that? I primary like lacquer but I did not have the time or the temperature to do it. I also am looking for other options in finish on other projects.

 

[Grant Wilkinson]

Ren wax may help a bit, but it's still just wax. If you used Beaut Shellawax over the EEE, you already have a wax finish. I can tell you that lacquer does not stick to a Shellawax finish. I tried and failed miserably.

 

[Bill Boehme]

I think it would be a problem applying any kind of finish on top of wax.

 

[John Tisdale]

If the goal was to turn a pepper-mill then you're done. If the goal was to turn something that will last, that perhaps a great, great grandchild will pick up, look at the initials or name on the bottom, and ask "who was that", then you're not done. While I've never turned a pepper-mill, my guess is it has its own set of issues. One, of course, it's wood. Being hygroscopic, wood needs to be properly treated if longevity is of value.
Depending on wood species, I can burnish as good a finish as all the Jeff Jewetts - problem is, it's short term and there is zero protection. I can get a teeny bit more longevity with a bit of wax - the operative here is "teeny".
Next, I can finish with oil and get a great finish with considerable improvement in longevity - that can be improved with one of the many home-brews or store-boughts that combine oil / solvent / air-cure resin of some sort. These are generally "wipe-on" which meets the "git'er done fast" requirement.
After the wipe-ons, you evolve to lacquers and ulitmately the high performance/nasty stuff.

No doubt the person picking up your pepper-mile will see a beauty and pride of execution not experienced with a "store-bought" - if you used that magic log, perhaps the simple act of grinding pepper has been elevated to the sublime. I don't think it unreasonable that a person picking up that same pepper-mill ten or twenty-years from now shouldn't have the same experience - maybe more so.

If our spirit goes into our work, and our work lives on, isn't that immortality?

 

[Hy Tran]

Friction polish is a combination of a solvent, polymerizing oil, shellac, and likely some wax. Any kind of finish (other than wax) will have trouble sticking to wax.

Periodic wipe/wax/buff would be my suggested maintenance for this particular item.

Edit added: For more recommendations on general finishing, I highly recommend the articles from the late Russ Fairfield, archived here:
http://www.woodcentral.com/russ/russ3.shtml

Best,

Hy

 

[Michael Nathal]

I am not sure of the durability of the friction polish but I do know that my sycamore travel mug has survived 6 years of wear & tear, and dozens of hand washings and still looks good. This has a wipe-on poly finish, maybe 5 coats or so. Removing wax from a piece only requires some mineral spirits, then you could wipe on. .

 

[Dean]

thanks fellas

 

[hughie]

Ubeaut EEE and friction cream, if your using the Ubeaut friction polish over the EEE then you shouldnt have to worry as the Shellawax friction polish cross links with oxygen in the atmosphere and hardens to a point where It can tolerate alcohol .

http://www.ubeaut.com.au/shell.html

 

[john lucas]

When you want a long lasting durable finish there are 2 good options. Polyeurethane which is extremely durable and wears well. I use minwax wipe on poly but have also used brush on versions for larger projects. The downside is if you ever chip the finish you can't repair it. you can apply new finish over the chipped area but you will always see a telltale line where the repair was done. Lacquer is what has been used on furniture for years. Quite durable but not as tough as Poly. Since each layer melts into the previous layer it can easily be repaired and the repair won't show. Of course repairing an item assumes that you can get it back to repair it. The wax type finishes are not durable but are easily repairable by the customer by just applying more wax. Some people use Bees wax as a finish and simply let the wood wear and age over the years.

 

[Randy Heinemann]

Isn't friction polish (at least the kind you buy in a Rockler or Woodcraft store) meant to be a final finish? i'm confused. I don't use it very often but the answer would add to my knowledge about finishing.

 

[Bill Boehme]

Isn't friction polish (at least the kind you buy in a Rockler or Woodcraft store) meant to be a final finish? i'm confused. I don't use it very often but the answer would add to my knowledge about finishing.

You are correct. The problem comes when layering different kinds of finish which I've never understood why someone would want to do that. Putting anything on top of wax is not going to work very well. About the only reason that I've encountered for putting more than one type of finish on wood is when dealing with wood that is highly resinous like eastern red cedar that can prevent polyurethane varnish from curing properly. In a situation like that putting a one pound cut of shellac as a sealer before applying the varnish is a good solution.

 

[Randy Heinemann]

Knowing what I know about finishes from my other woodworking experience (admit I am not anywhere close to an expert), I would think that you could seal a bowl with a 1 lb cut of shellac (like Bulls-Eye Sealer cut with alcohol), let it cure, and put any other kind of finish you want over the top, including what I use which is a beeswax/mineral oil mixture.

 

[Bill Boehme]

You can put a lot of different things on top of shellac, but shellac by itself isn't so good for something that will be handled a lot for example a pen or even worse is a bottle stopper.

 

[hockenbery]

Knowing what I know about finishes from my other woodworking experience (admit I am not anywhere close to an expert), I would think that you could seal a bowl with a 1 lb cut of shellac (like Bulls-Eye Sealer cut with alcohol), let it cure, and put any other kind of finish you want over the top, including what I use which is a beeswax/mineral oil mixture.

Everything that applies to flat wood finishing applies to woodturning.

Some of the techniques to apply may need modification for the round surfaces.

Sanding with the grain is best if not always possible.

I sometimes use Thin shellac ( 1 lb cut) to get a quicker deep finish look with a finish like Waterlox
Shellac goes on 320 sanded surface then is sanded when it dries with 400.
3 coats of Waterlox will look like 5 or 6 over the shellac.

 

[Randy Heinemann]

I wouldn’t use shellac as the final finish but, as a sealer for poly or some other finish I might (like a 1 lb cut of dewaxed as a first coat).

 

[Perry Hilbert]

I specifically use no-wax Shellac (Bulls Eye Sealer) to make up my friction polish. I thought others did the same, apparently I am in the minority given with all this talk about wax.