Posted by bill epstein [ 65.189.211.118 ] on January 14, 2007 at 19:08:45:
In Reply to: finish for waterfall bubinga posted by marc on January 14, 2007 at 17:14:16:
Wipe on poly does look good but you can't repair it.
Bubinga is so dense it doesn't take oil very well except for Tung oil. Good ones are by Minwax and Waterlox.
Shellac is just as easy, better looking and easily repairable.
Just buy some Bulls-eye Amber, a qt od denatured alcohol and cheesecloth. Any paint store or home center has all three.
Stir the shellac and mix it with the alcohol 1:1 to get what is called a 1 1/2 lb. cut. Dip a piece of an old wool or cotton sock the size of a golfball when wadded up in the shellac and squeeze out any excess. Put the ball inside several layers of the cheesecloth.
Wipe in a circular pattern, overlapping somewhat until the entire piece is covered. You should feel a little drag as you wipe because the shellac dries so fast unless you have the ball too wet. Always start in from the edges to avoid build-up there.
Wait an hour and lightly rub the finish with 0000 steel wool with the grain or synthetic pad. All you want to do is level the finish, not remove it. Wipe off the powdered finish and steel wool with a Tack Cloth.
Recoat every hour until you have 5 coats. Then repeat the steel wool rub.
Apply 5 more coats with out using any steel wool.
Finally, wet a new ball with just the alcohol and lightly pass it over th finish, barely touching it.
Done. Wait'll you see the natural glow and color of the wood.
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