BLO - shellac.....

[gary butcher]

After reading a bit I'm starting to get a sort of idea where to go but would like some verification and clarity.

I want all my wood grain to really show well which I gather you can do with a coat of BLO followed by a layer of shellac as a barrier/sealer before topcoating with whatever finish we'd like to use. I have numerous toppings from dipping lacquer to spray lacquer to wipe on poly, waterlox, tru-oil, tung, epoxy etc. So pretty much a large assortment depending on the eventual look I want.

Will the BLO and shellac pop the grain and provide a good finishing surface to work with all those topcoats listed above or is there a better way to go? Finishing has always been a major bugbear in my life and still get a mess more than I'd really like. I also work with a number of oily woods which cause no end of trouble if I look at them wrong.

I make headphone cups which need to withstand a lot of handling and sometimes rough conditions so the finish should be reasonably durable and not delaminate with temp/climatic variations.

Also, anyone here used behlen woodturners polish?

[Scott Holmes]

BLO and shellac will indeed "pop" the grain. You didn't mention what type of wood you used. Shellac will stick to almost anything... it even sticks to teflon.

Oily woods should be wiped with a strong solvent (I use lacquer thinner) to remove the oily coating and then finish it as soon as it's dry.

As for the finish choices... the type of wood will determine how much movement you will encounter. An in-the-wood finish like an oil/varnish blend might be better than the BLO and shellac. As far as a film forming finish over hte BO & shellac I'd use Waterlox.