varnish not drying on rosewood

[John Piwaron]

I've turned some drawer pulls from 3 different kinds of wood - African Blackwood, Koa and East Indian Rosewood.

I applied Pratt and Lambert #37 to the Koa and EI Rosewood pulls. The varnish dried to the touch in 24 hours on the Koa, but it's still tacky on the Rosewood pulls.

Is there a problem with using an alkyd resin varnish (the P&L stuff) on EI Rosewood, or is this a matter of having to wait longer for it to dry? Other than it not being dry to the touch it looks great.

[Howard Acheson]

>>>> Is there a problem with using an alkyd resin varnish

Yes, rosewood contains oils that inhibit the curing of oil based and oil finishes. Use a stripper and remove the existing finish. Then either use a lacquer finish or apply a barrier coat of dewaxed shellac. Do not sand the barrier coat. Then apply a coat of your varnish, let it dry and then lightly sand it. Then apply a couple of more coats of varnish.

BTW, this is a common problem on many exotic tropical woods.

[Prashun Patel]

If it were me, I'd strip it. If you get to it quick enough, you might be able to remove most of the offense with MS, or turpentine.

If this is an option I'd just wax the pulls. That rosewood will look fantastic even without the varnish. Further, it'll feel wonderfully smooth.

[John Piwaron]

Interesting

Thanks for the advise. I can certainly strip it off and try something else.

BTW, I only did 1 of each. :) Anticipating that there *might* be difficulties. The blackwood will of course get zero finish, at least that's my plan now. That stuff is incredibly obviously oily. It feels funky while being turned. The rosewood, not so much. It feels and looks dry.

The reason I like the P&L stuff is the finish is so easy, it dries (usually) to a satin finish and it's tough as nails.

[Prashun Patel]

Nice. Since you haven't committed, I'd just wax them all. I think you'll get a nice look and feel, and nothing could be easier.