George Guadiane
08-06-2010, 6:04 PM
I have a nice piece of Norfolk Island Pine that I want to give that transparent finish I see on many Hawaiian pieces.
One of the important things to getting that translucence is to get good penetration of the oil finish...
I had this idea:
I thought that a vacuum might better get the oil to penetrate into wood.
I wondered if the Bush Oil finish that I use would damage those big vacuum bags that you can use a vacuum cleaner or hand pump with...
So I cut the corner off of one small bag and soaked it in the finish for a couple of months to see how the bag would hold up.
I just took the bag out of the finish and it looked GREAT. So I got another (quart) bag and picked a small piece I did with my beta Nano Revolution tools. It didn't have much finish (oil)
I filled the piece with little glass marbles (to reduce the volume of liquid I would need) and then filled the little HF with the oil I had soaked the bag corner in - with me so far???
The first picture is of the filled HF in the vacuumed bag in front of the "safety can" that I'll use to hold the bag, in case the bag doesn't act the same under a vacuum.
The second is in the can open and in the can closed.
In another couple of months, I'll take the piece out and empty out the marbles and finish then let it drip out, wiping off excesses till it gets dry. If this process works, I'll try it on a bigger piece. Eventually, I'll try some of the BIG bags to see if THEY will hold the finish and not break down... If I have success, this MIGHT be a good way to apply finish more quickly and deeply to provide a better finish.
I'm hoping to hear comments and suggestions on this:)
One of the important things to getting that translucence is to get good penetration of the oil finish...
I had this idea:
I thought that a vacuum might better get the oil to penetrate into wood.
I wondered if the Bush Oil finish that I use would damage those big vacuum bags that you can use a vacuum cleaner or hand pump with...
So I cut the corner off of one small bag and soaked it in the finish for a couple of months to see how the bag would hold up.
I just took the bag out of the finish and it looked GREAT. So I got another (quart) bag and picked a small piece I did with my beta Nano Revolution tools. It didn't have much finish (oil)
I filled the piece with little glass marbles (to reduce the volume of liquid I would need) and then filled the little HF with the oil I had soaked the bag corner in - with me so far???
The first picture is of the filled HF in the vacuumed bag in front of the "safety can" that I'll use to hold the bag, in case the bag doesn't act the same under a vacuum.
The second is in the can open and in the can closed.
In another couple of months, I'll take the piece out and empty out the marbles and finish then let it drip out, wiping off excesses till it gets dry. If this process works, I'll try it on a bigger piece. Eventually, I'll try some of the BIG bags to see if THEY will hold the finish and not break down... If I have success, this MIGHT be a good way to apply finish more quickly and deeply to provide a better finish.
I'm hoping to hear comments and suggestions on this:)