what do you use to finish hardwoods ?

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GAK Jack

Well-Known Member
i'm currently using a Estapol brand Tung Oil Polyurethane ( subdued gloss) but its a mongrel to work with , its a hardwood flooring product , theres a satin finish in a spray pack that very good but i like a little gloss for some burls ( like coolabah flame burl )

looking for a spray pack if i can

suggestions ??

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I use a little linseed oil to clean it up, then several coats of either tung oil or Tru-Oil. Shoe shine style buff to the level of glossiness I want.
 
Every time I read a post on here I learn something. I always thought linseed oil was not a good product to use in finishing wood because it never truly dried. How does putting linseed oil on first and then Tru Oil compare with just using Tru Oil to finish the scales or handle?

My father was a cabinet maker back in the 50s and sometimes Dad would take shellac and mix it with alcohol or mineral spirits (can't remember which) in a 50-50 ratio and use it to seal wood. Then he would put a finish coat of varnish or stain on. Made for a beautiful finish. Wish I had paid more attention.
 
jack, what about using the satin spray, #0000 steelwool, then carnuba floor wax to get the shine? I don't like anything as sprayed. Minwax paste finishing wax works well. I'v actually finished harder woods with just the wax.
 
Oleblood said:
Every time I read a post on here I learn something. I always thought linseed oil was not a good product to use in finishing wood because it never truly dried. How does putting linseed oil on first and then Tru Oil compare with just using Tru Oil to finish the scales or handle?

My father was a cabinet maker back in the 50s and sometimes Dad would take shellac and mix it with alcohol or mineral spirits (can't remember which) in a 50-50 ratio and use it to seal wood. Then he would put a finish coat of varnish or stain on. Made for a beautiful finish. Wish I had paid more attention.
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Looks like it was alcohol.
http://www.stewmac.com/How-To/Online_Resources/Finishing/How_and_why_to_mix_fresh_shellac.html

Hope that helps you recreate your old man's tricks.
 
]Well a big Thank You all for the input folks

did not even think of Tru oil ( and i've used it a heap over the years always on gun stocks ) , way easier than the poly i have been using
these are the three test set's i did today , again thank you , because of the dark finish i did not think it would be ok for lighter timbers , gotta experiment more eh )

twin folders are beefwood and the set un mounted are Australian Dessert Rosewood with the outer sap wood still attached

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If the wood is not stabilized I usually do several coats of CA as sealer. Hand sand (400 - 600 grit then 0000 steel wool) to level it out then buff. If it's a stabilized wood, buff with pink then white compound. I've found that if I use a stabilized wood that has an open grain structure like Wenge, after I sand to 600, I then use CA as a sealer. Hope this helps some.
 
CA finish is a super glue with a one minute set time, designed for pens and other small wood items.
Oleblood said:
My father was a cabinet maker back in the 50s and sometimes Dad would take shellac and mix it with alcohol or mineral spirits (can't remember which) in a 50-50 ratio and use it to seal wood. Then he would put a finish coat of varnish or stain on. Made for a beautiful finish. Wish I had paid more attention.
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this was the "ultimate finish" taught to me in wood shop in the mid60's. you use alcohol to thin shellac. sand the wood smooth, 150 grit or so. stain if you want, add a coat of 50/50 thinned shellac. dry 3 to 4 hours. lightly sand with 180grit. coat of gloss varnish. here is the problem. must dry overnight at least. lightly sand with 240. coat of gloss varnish. dry overnight. lightly sand with 320. coat of gloss varnish. dry overnight. lightly sand with 400. coat of gloss varnish. dry overnight. lightly sand with 600. if you want a gloss finish, stop here. for a satin finish, add a coat of satin varnish. dry overnight. lightly sand with 1000 grit. this is the "Amana Finish".
If you use oil based varnish or polyurethane, it will take a week and the drying has to be done in a well ventilated space. I use water based polyurethane for floors from Rustoleum, either their brand or Varathane. You can recoat in 90 minutes and there is no odor, so 5 or 6 coats can be done in one day.
All the "OIL" finishes out there contain varnish or polyurethane so they can dry.
I have used oil only, wax only, or oil/wax blend. works ok, but they can get soft when hot(like inside your vehicle on a sunny summer day) and feel greasy. my next experiment is using epoxy based poured finish, like you would use for a bar top. another finish that needs well ventilated dustfree space, and overnight dry time. advantage would be it will fill any and all spaces in the handle/tang.

For GAK Jack:
wood finish sources in OZ
http://www.howardproducts.com.au/
http://www.bunnings.com.au/our-range/paint-decorating/paint/wood-finishes/varnish
quench oil source in OZ
http://www.penriteoil.com.au/mwf/TDS/Quench-Rite_AQ.pdf
http://www.penriteoil.com.au/mwf/TDS/Quench-Rite_SQ.pdf

cheers,
 
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After reading this thread I went out and bought some "tru-oil" made by Birchwood-Casey. They also had a filler/sealer they recommended to use under the Tru-oil. So I bought some of each. The sealer is thick and oiley feeling and goes on real nice and fills real well. I haven't tried the tru-oil yet but if it work as nice as the sealer, I'm sold!

My dad used to work on gunstocks and one tip that he gave me was, after sanding and before your first coat of sealer, blow of the wood, take a damp (not wet) towel or wash cloth and lightly dust the wood with it. It will cause the fine "hair" left by sanding but still attached to the wood to "stand up" thus allowing more of the sealer to get into the wood. I think he did a couple coats of sealer before sanding again.

I believe his pet sealer was a mix of marine spar varnish, Lin-speed oil (http://www.lin-speed.com/content/Instructions.htm) and a thinner. He mixed it pretty thin. The highlights he got were very good.
 
Small shop let me know how that sealer works I have only just used the Tru oil by itself.

Sent from my SM-P600 using Tapatalk
 
Scott ,
Thank you a heap for all the info , i have some of the howards stuff on the way , but as for the penrite stuff , despite what it say on the web site , we dont get it here , see copy of email they sent me as a follow up ( i use Penrite in all my bikes and have a account with them i use that much) seems the marketing group dont know what they sell here ( common with non aussie companies who control aussie web sites )

but thank you very much for the info the howards stuff sounds great if expencive but again its on its way so will let you know how it goes when here and tryed

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GAK Jack said:
Scott ,
Thank you a heap for all the info , i have some of the howards stuff on the way , but as for the penrite stuff , despite what it say on the web site , we dont get it here , see copy of email they sent me as a follow up ( i use Penrite in all my bikes and have a account with them i use that much) seems the marketing group dont know what they sell here ( common with non aussie companies who control aussie web sites )

but thank you very much for the info the howards stuff sounds great if expencive but again its on its way so will let you know how it goes when here and tryed

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i guess about the only thing left would be to contact the firms that do heat treat there in OZ and see where they get their quench fluids. we have the same problem here, i have called several local firms that advertise quench oil only to have the salesman say no we dont.
 
The Birchwood Casey "gunstock sealer and filler" worked real well. I did two coats no sanding in between. Then sanded to bare wood. The surface was still hard. I could see some pores but all had sealer in them. I am going to do two coats of tru oil, sand, then wax. I'll try to post a pic or two If I can get a close up.

This was a figured piece of walnut not stabilized. I like how it's starting to look.
 
Hey smallshop....I ended up trying that sealer as well. So far so good. I put on a coat and lightly sanded, then another and lightly sanded at a higher grit (220 and 400 I think). It didn't really make the grain pop, but it gave a pretty decent satin finish. I've oiled it up to sit for a few days and the oil isn't penetrating very much. I'm going to wax it up sometime this week and polish it and see what happens. So far, that stuff seems to work pretty well. I don't use a lot of woods that need it, but it seems like an easy way to get a good seal job on larger pored woods that need to be sealed pretty good.

I've done a couple knives like this before where I used a CA as a sealer. I think this stuff is much easier to work with. I also had a problem with the CA getting cloudy and the Birchwood Casey sealer didn't do that.
 
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