Shop Made Polissoir - $6

[Kyle DuPont]

Today I decided to make a polissoir to see what it was about. I didn't follow any exact measurements but used the broomcorn I had in one broom head as my limiting factor. It was quite easy and works very well.

I picked up a hand broom at the box store. I looked around and found one at Home Depot that was made with broomcorn for about $5. It is important to note that they are changing out this broom for one that is made with straw. This one is tan and the straw one was a sage green color. I wanted a wrap that was presentable, so I picked up whipping twine from the marine (boat/sailing) store. The lashing is way more that I need and was $9. I used maybe $0.75 of twine.

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The end of the hand broom looked like this. The broom is 100% broomcorn.

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I didn't take pictures of the entire process but this is what I ended up with.

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This is a No 3 for size comparison. The polissoir is 1 1/4" in diameter and 5 1/4" long.

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After use on about 1/2 of a square foot and no wax.

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This was a few strokes with moderate pressure on walnut. This board was planed smooth with the No 3 prior to burnishing.

Overall there are a couple of things I would change. I would use 1 1/2 to 2 hand brooms of material in the next one, maybe 2" in diameter. I would use the middle area of the broomcorn for the end. The middle area is the thickest solid core area in the plant. The fine ends and open core bottom seem to be a little less desirable and not as solid. The whipping twine is waxed and works quite well. It has a little stretch that helps keep things under tension when making. I used 2 hose clamps to keep the broomcorn compressed as I wound the twine.

I can do a more in depth DIY if people are interested. It wasn't too bad to do myself and would recommend it for those who enjoy making their own tools.

[Ted Calver]

Very creative, Kyle. I wonder if some of the brooms with large diameter synthetic fibers would serve the same purpose and last longer? I picked up a couple of pointers to use on a totally unrelated project, so my curiosity to see what a polissoir was paid off. Thanks for sharing.

[Nicholas Lawrence]

I am not familiar with this tool. How do you use it? From the pictures it looks like it did a nice job. How does it compare to a cabinet scraper for a finished surface?

[Brian Holcombe]

I wouldnt mind a bit more detail. These things are awesome, and I'm looking for one to try out. I'd like to wax like this for some of my furniture which does not see heavy use.

[Bryan Robinson]

I bought one last year and it is great to use. I made one of a different size and it is okay, but not nearly as good as the one I bought.

[Frederick Skelly]

I am not familiar with this tool. How do you use it? From the pictures it looks like it did a nice job. How does it compare to a cabinet scraper for a finished surface?

Me either. Can someone please add a little background?

[Chuck Hart]

Kyle could you explain how you wrapped it?

[george wilson]

Do you mean a polisher? Or is this a French term?

[Kyle DuPont]

Plastic might do a similar job, but I think that the ends of the natural material fray to make a fine, hard textured surface. This surface has small ends smashing the wood fibers and I think that the larger diameter plastic would be more of an abrasive. I think the large diameter plastic would remove the soft late wood, making a raised grain surface. I do not know this for sure, but it seems like it would be similar to using a stiff bristled brush to raise the grain pattern. Now if you had the plastic fibers with the flagged ends... that might be good.

You can use it with or without wax to burnish the surface. Hold the tool by the corded body and press the prepared end onto the board to be burnished. Move along the grain with moderate pressure. This will smash the wood fibers as opposed to shaving them. I also suppose that this would make finishing different, similar to stopping at 220 grit or going to 1500 grit. The burnished surface is very smooth.

Bryan, what do you not like about the one that you made? Were the ends not as compressed as the purchased one?

I will do a more detailed DIY tomorrow. I anchored the spool end of the twine around a fixed object by wrapping it around itself. This way I was able to keep the spool under normal tension and max tension on the end being wrapped. So the twine went from spool to vise pop-up bench dog to bundle being wrapped.

The name "Polissior" is the french term. It is a polisher but they are now being made under the "Polissoir" name due to being described by Roubo.

[Noah Wagener]

I was wondering about that term. I thought maybe it was evening polish.

In a French movie "Amelie" a woman attaches something to her feet to polish the floor. I can not recall if it was similar to the polissior/polissoir.

[Kyle DuPont]

She polished the floor with her slipper feet.

[Jim Matthews]

It's the latest craze from research into older practices and the subject of a recent article.

Similar techniques with reed 'rush' are used on cane reeds for woodwinds. The abrasive aspect
is limited - it primarily works as a grain filler. The wax is force into the voids below the surface
and burnished to a high sheen at the level of the outermost surface.

You're burnishing with a mild abrasive, and filling grain with mild wax that melts under the heat generated by pressure.
Similar results can be achieved with scratch pads and elbow grease.


https://youtu.be/5al4CtLFebU

[Mel Fulks]

The Horsetail reeds, (rush) is around 600 grit. Was used both in bundles and parallel with surface. It will scratch metal.

[Warren Mickley]

It's the latest craze from research into older practices and the subject of a recent article.

Similar techniques with reed 'rush' are used on cane reeds for woodwinds. The abrasive aspect
is limited - it primarily works as a grain filler. The wax is force into the voids below the surface
and burnished to a high sheen at the level of the outermost surface.

You're burnishing with a mild abrasive, and filling grain with mild wax that melts under the heat generated by pressure.
Similar results can be achieved with scratch pads and elbow grease.


https://youtu.be/5al4CtLFebU

As mentioned by Mel, the rush used by clarinet players is horsetail rush, Equisetum hyemale. It is not a true rush and is not closely related to the rush family. It is abrasive.
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The rush mentioned in Roubo for the polissoir is a true rush. It is common rush, Juncus effusus. It is soft and has hollow stems with pith.
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[Kyle DuPont]

Hmm, makes me wonder if the hollow portions of the broomcorn would be fine? The hollow portion of the broomcorn does not have pith. I am following what I can gather from the images of the Don Williams sourced polissoir. The used end appears to be the larger solid core area of the plant. Don had done some R&D for the size and material. The broom corn was said to be more durable.

I wonder if the rush would make a less burnished surface, for the amount of work done, but be more sensitive to finer grain structure?

[Mel Fulks]

Kyle, all of those things work. The horse tail has silica ,or maybe MORE silica is more accurate,so it is more akin to
sandpaper than the straw.

[Jim Koepke]

The horse tail has silica ,or maybe MORE silica is more accurate,so it is more akin to sandpaper than the straw.

If this catches on will we be seeing different bundles at different grits?

Any one try the new 13,000 Polissoir? Was considering getting one but wondering if it will do any better than my current mix of 1000, 5000 and 8000 Polissoirs.

jtk

[Mel Fulks]

Yes. We might see the emergence of the Polissoir Connosoir .

[Kyle DuPont]

Hahaha! Yes, I am saving up for the magicorn 30,000 grit!

[Warren Mickley]

When Roubo talks about making a polissoir from jonc ordinaire, he is not talking about broom corn or horsetails. He is talking about common rush. Here is the passage from Andre Roubo:

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Earlier Roubo talks about horsetail (French prele, Latin Equisetum), but in connection with abrasion, not for bundling up into a polissoir for use with wax.

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[Frederick Skelly]

I'm still pondering this one guys. Give me a hand here? Does the use of a polisher pre-date the availability of smoothing planes? I ask that because I haven't figured out why Id need to burnish a wood surface after using a sharp #3 smoother? I'm not trying to argue or anything - I'm trying to figure out how and where this tool fits into my evolving set of hand tools and techniques. What would I need this for if I don't normally go beyond the smoothing plane? For example, would I use this instead of bronze wool to knock down the grain after using a water-soluable dye?

Thanks for bringing me up to speed.
Fred

[Alan Schwabacher]

Warren: I would have thought a common rush to be much softer and to not offer the same burnishing effect shown by the OP above, without any wax. Is that wrong, or are you saying that this type of burnishing is not what Roubo described? It seems to be a way to get an effect similar to that obtained by turners when they hold a handful of shavings to a spinning piece.

[Mel Fulks]

Planes go way back. The Romans had them. I think your question is like asking what a screw driver is for ,to some they
are just for opening paint. I've read that Grinling Gibbons used the horsetail ends bundled to remove clinging bits on his
carving and "polish" a little. But sure that Warren is right that most cabinetmakers would not use them bundled.

[Frederick Skelly]

Planes go way back. The Romans had them. I think your question is like asking what a screw driver is for.

No, my question isnt quite that silly Mel. :) I probably asked it poorly. Were the smoothing plane and the polisher in use in the same period? Or, was the polisher made obsolete by smoothing planes later on? Because I dont yet see why I need both for a flat piece of wood. I get a gorgeous surface with my LV BUS.

What I think you are saying is that a polisher is useful on surfaces where a smoother wont work - like a carving. That I can see. But the OP made this sweet little tool and used it on a flat board - AFTER having used his #3 smoother.

I hope that makes a little more sense.

Regards,
Fred

[Warren Mickley]

A few interesting questions here. Normally a smoothing plane leaves a surface slightly burnished. And a water soluble dye will not disturb the fibers if they are cleanly cut with a sharp plane. You can smooth with a plane, apply water soluble dye, dry with a hair dryer, and start applying finish within a minute or two.

I occasionally burnish for special circumstances. Sometimes on end grain, sometimes sharp edges of carvings or mouldings, sometimes on the face of a board. I like to use a small block of a medium hardwood like cherry or walnut with corners well rounded. Two hard a wood or sharp corners will scratch or dent the work. In working on the lathe you should be careful not to polish with shavings of a wood that is to much harder than the wood being turned; usually we are able to use the same wood.

Roubo says the polissoir should not make too much friction and heat up the veneer and damage it as he says sometimes happens with a cork block. If the polissoir is to burnish it should be gentle and I think the broom corn is harsh for this operation, compared to the rush. Roubo does not mention using the polissoir without wax, only as a tool for dispensing and spreading the wax, and forcing the wax into pores and the like.

In all of this your observations, how much you can notice, is very important. Judgement and restraint.

[Frederick Skelly]

Thank you Warren!
Fred

[Phil Thien]

I'm confused, the only reference the OP makes in his post is "no wax." Was there wax used on either of the walnut samples in the OP's pics?

[Kyle DuPont]

There was no wax used in the pictures posted. The primary use is with wax, but I haven't finished the finer details of the polissoir yet. The ends need to be shaved smooth and burnished. I will then soak in wax and use on an actual piece. I was surprised at how well it worked just off of the knife, so those pictures were taken and posted.

The polissoir is a finishing tool. It would be used to apply wax and burnish the surface. The waxed and burnished surface can be left as is or a varnish applied on top.

https://s3.amazonaws.com/theBarn/Articles/Tools/Williams%2CDon-Practical_Hints_for_Using_Your_Polissoir.pdf

[Steve Voigt]

If this catches on will we be seeing different bundles at different grits?

Any one try the new 13,000 Polissoir? Was considering getting one but wondering if it will do any better than my current mix of 1000, 5000 and 8000 Polissoirs.

jtk

Not so far off, Jim…in Japan they use uzukuri, burnishing tools that have the same basic form as the polissoir, but come in a variety of "grits," from coarse to fine. Japan woodworker sells them in three flavors (they are a bit pricey compared to Don's polissoirs). As luck would have it, I saw an interesting blog post about uzukuri today while reading Norse Woodsmith:
http://hillbillydaiku.com/2015/05/01/at-the-alters-of-flat-smooth-and-texture/

[Scott Winners]

I am a little bit hesitant to bump a 7 year old thread, but there is some good discussion here. I got a pair of (looks up spelling) polissoir (polissoirs?) in from Don's barn today. In about 30 minutes of shop time I think I am hooked. The one pic I plan to post is a glue up panel, two boards of American Beech, with three coats of hemp oil. In one quadrant I used on of my new fancy French thingys with some of Don's blend #31, I think 3 parts beeswax and one part shellac. Border is indistinct.

I was concerned that little cylinder to grip and the repetitive back and forth motion might play silly buggers with my arthritis, but so far nothing a little Guiness can't manage. The burnishing effect of the polissoir ( don't ask me to pronounce it. the only french words I can pronounce are food. Champagne. Souffle. Truffle. etcetera) Anyway, the surface of the beech is smoother after burnishing.

I have recently brought in a DMT plate at 8k grit, I finished the pictured board with a pretty well tuned #4 Bailey and used an LN honing guide to bring the Veritas O1 blade up to 8k. I was happy with the surface off the plane when the oil went on. After not a lot of effort with the polissoir, the surface is smoother. A brief buff with a soft cloth, the overall tone is a bit (is it darker or brighter?) different. You can see the feet on what will be the bottom of a cabinet.

My shop is a bit on the cool side this week. The air is +55dF, but I have been seeing a fair bit of -30s on the Fahrenheit thermometer lately, so the material in the shop is cooling off even though the air is +55. I have another chunk of beech in the same room as my woodstove. In one of the 4-5 extant threads here from ~2015 there was a comment that "heating up" the wood might help the beeswax and/or lac wax get down into the voids. I suspect that is true, don't yet know how warm or hot.

As soon as my hobby account gets recharged, I am going to order up some more of these little guys from Don. It will be after the spring melt (late April) before I melt down some beeswax to get my polissoir(s) saturated with melted wax products. The flashpoint of beeswax is fairly low, I consider melting beeswax an outdoor chore because of the fire risk. If you must melt beeswax indoors I strongly advise a double boiler setup.

Anyroad, I like to have the grain on the figured hardwood I do use pop real nice, or at least clean up good. I don't like breathing VOCs. Moving from using wax and oil with my fingers to using oil with my fingers and wax under a polissoir has stepped my game up a level or two pretty quick.

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[Rafael Herrera]

I made a couple out of broom corn and are not as effective.

Does anyone know where to source dry rush?

[Jason Buresh]

It's the latest craze from research into older practices and the subject of a recent article.

Similar techniques with reed 'rush' are used on cane reeds for woodwinds. The abrasive aspect
is limited - it primarily works as a grain filler. The wax is force into the voids below the surface
and burnished to a high sheen at the level of the outermost surface.

You're burnishing with a mild abrasive, and filling grain with mild wax that melts under the heat generated by pressure.
Similar results can be achieved with scratch pads and elbow grease.


https://youtu.be/5al4CtLFebU

I'm ok with any craze that doesn't involve sandpaper. Sanding is time consuming, dusty, medial, unhealthy, environmentally unfriendly task. Not only is the fine dust created a health hazard, sand paper just ends up in the landfill anyway. Let alone the time it takes to sand.

When I learned how to use my planes, it was almost a liberating feeling. Sure, using a jointer and power planer is faster and easier than prepping stock by hand, but the sanding is the time killer, especially having to go through multiple grits.

I try to use sandpaper when it's a last resort now. I don't miss the dust mask and shop vac and ear muffs.

[Warren Mickley]

I was just in Pittsburgh yesterday. Here in Lancaster County we find rush at the very edges of ponds. It looks like a much too healthy patch of chives; taller and thicker spikes. In the winter, some of the leaves are brown and dried; some are green. It doesn't take long to dry the stuff. You can buy a potted plant at a store that specializes in aquatic plants for people with ponds. Rush, Juncus effusus.

There are 21 sightings in Allegheny County on the iNaturalist site, including one near the Beechwood entrance to Frick Park.

[Jim Koepke]

Rush, Juncus effusus.

Just Googled this… There is some growing in a pot in my greenhouse without me having a clue as to what it was. Guess it may as well be tended to and propagated.

It just seemed like an interesting plant.

jtk

[Tom M King]

We have Bull Rush growing on the lake here, but it's died back for the Winter. Is this a suitable type? I have not studied Rushes.

[Warren Mickley]

We have Bull Rush growing on the lake here, but it's died back for the Winter. Is this a suitable type? I have not studied Rushes.

Usually people use the term bulrush for several different plants, but not rush. Here in Pennsylvania common rush, also called soft rush, is still green this time of year. Common rush grows in North Carolina, but does not appear to be common in your area.

[Rafael Herrera]

Rush, Juncus effusus.

There are 21 sightings in Allegheny County on the iNaturalist site, including one near the Beechwood entrance to Frick Park.

Thanks Warren. That's the same park where the bridge collapsed last Friday. It may be an excuse to go and ogle. I've driven over that bridge a million times.

By the way, if anyone is interested in making your own polissoir, look up how to tie a straight lash knot.

[Assaf Oppenheimer]

I've seen similar technology used in the watchmaking industry.
specifically for finishing of parts.

[Scott Winners]

I have fiddled with heat a little bit. With materials at +40 to +50 degrees F, a board 11x30 can we polissoir-ed in about 15 minutes. Tricky to buff, the wax is pretty stiff at that temperature. At around +80 degrees F I can do (polissoir only) the same size board in about ten minutes, and the softer wax is easier to buff after I put down the straw bundle. I did lay a piece on the hearth in front of my wood stove and heated it up to about + 105 maybe +110 degrees F. Warm to the touch, but it would be comfortable to stick inside your T shirt for hours on a cold winter night. That sped up the wax application process even more, but that is about as hot as I am willing to experiment.

All of the above were with the shellac flake/ beeswax mix from Don, I suspect pure beeswax will go a little quicker since it supposed to be softer. I did notice in figured hardwood some pits left behind where open end grain was a component of the surface to be finished. Once the primary application was done, I was spot adding wax to the bare areas exposed by raking light and with minimal experience on my part the touch up process is included in the observed times above.

I think I had just driven the nearby wax down into the open voids. Trying to apply my wax sparingly so as to avoid unnecessary buffing, expensive waste and a challenging laundry situation.

I am going to try submerging at least one polissoir in molten wax sooner rather than later. Currently buffed out results are satisfactory with an old T shirt, I am going to try a microfiber cloth before I accept the results I have. I can get the surface of my truck smoother and shinier, but I use a synthetic wax on my clear coated truck.

[Rafael Herrera]

Tonight I advanced an unfinished oilstone box project. The lid is figured walnut, hand planed. Attempted to burnish the surface with my shop made broom polissoir, no wax, I'll finish it with shellac.

The polissoir kind of falls apart as I rub it, but it did an ok job. I got some leads on where to source some rush locally, so if I can find it I'll give it a try.

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[Scott Winners]

Attempted to burnish the surface with my shop made broom polissoir

I am a bit nervous, at my age and with my arthritis, to take on making my own broom straw burnishers. Looks like a job for a young person. I did get Don Williams' DVD from desert somebody, desert passage, desert crossings, whatever,it was cheaper than amazon. On the DVD he showed a burnisher made from tropical hardwood. I am having mighty fine results with the one I made from Sapele. https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?296592-removing-planer-knife-marks

Are you going to use anything to fill the grain? I am about to order up some pumice powder and some shellac flour, but it will depend on what your final finish is planned to be of course.

Lovely box lid.

[Warren Mickley]

I occasionally burnish wood for a special affect. I use small pieces of walnut or cherry with the corners well rounded so as not to make dents. I like sort of a medium density hardwood, which itself gets easily burnished in the process.

Andre Roubo calls burnishers brunissoirs ​and recommends walnut.