Holly and Ebony Finishing Question

[Izzy Charo]

Hello,
I made a jewelry box with shop sawn ebony and holly veneers and sanded all to 220. Put one coat of Minwax Wipe On Poly (Satin), which is oil-based, and the beautiful creamy holly now looks slightly muddy. I think the adjacent ebony might have bleed into it...Ugh! I will try to lightly sand back to bare wood, and need some advice on how to finish this box so that the holly stays creamy ....
Thanks for all responses-
Izzy

[John TenEyck]

If you are able to get it back to clean wood I would spray it with a coat of dewaxed shellac first, then switch to your wipe on topcoat. The shellac should seal the wood and prevent the ebony from staining the holly. Good luck.

John

[John K Jordan]

And it the box has mostly flat surfaces cabinet scrapers might be easier to cut back to clean wood while preserving crisp edges.

[Jim Becker]

I will also suggest using a waterborne clear to avoid any color shift in the holly.

[Izzy Charo]

I will also suggest using a waterborne clear to avoid any color shift in the holly.

Jim, Do you have a suggestion for a particular waterborne clear finish? Preserving the color of the holly is a high priority. I've only used oil-based finishes, mostly GF Armor Seal, in the past.
Thanks,

[Phil Mueller]

Sanding true ebony will create black dust that is nearly impossible to remove from any surrounding wood. Although I’ve heard folks have some luck with compressed air. When I work with it, I seal everything with de-waxed shellac before any other finishing. I avoid sanding it. I smooth it when necessary with card scrapers/small block planes, etc. being careful to take shavings and not create dust.

[Jim Becker]

Jim, Do you have a suggestion for a particular waterborne clear finish? Preserving the color of the holly is a high priority. I've only used oil-based finishes, mostly GF Armor Seal, in the past.
Thanks,
'Depends on the project. Since it sounds like you're hand applying the finish, the Minwax Polycrylic or Varathane equivalent from the 'borg will be just fine. I generally spray and use Target Coatings products. John will have to comment whether or not the GF waterborne clears are ok for hand-applying...I'm not familiar with them.

[Izzy Charo]

This has been extremely helpful--So, just to clarify... after I get back to unfinished wood; plan is to wipe-on one coat of non-waxing shellac (the Zinsser product); and then apply a water-based clear poly. I'm assuming the water-based poly will not raise the grain because of the shellac, and I'll proceed with subsequent coats of the poly and avoid sanding. Do I have this right and am I missing any steps? Again, thanks for the help...
Izzy

[Jim Becker]

The shellac is going to add a hint of amber to the holly which might be what you're trying to avoid. Do the grain raise thing first, apply the first coat of the waterborne and let it dry. knock off any new "fuzzies" with some 320 or 400 paper by hand, clean and then proceed with subsequent coats. You may or may not need to abrade after the second coat in this method, but you will benefit from the water-white color of the waterborne more that way. SealCoat is pretty light, but it's still pretty amber, just the same.

[Izzy Charo]

Hi John,
Jim says you are the one to talk to about water based GF poly.... which would you suggest for a jewelry box with Holly and Ebony (next to each other)...and would you use the Zinsser SealCoat shellac first (as you suggested above) or a GF product; or no sealer as Jim has suggested... Finishing appears to get a lot more complicated when you're working with Holly and dark woods....
Many Thanks for your advice,
Izzy

[Phil Mueller]

Izzy, just to be clear; I only seal with shellac if I’m going to need to sand the Ebony. This helps prevent ebony dust from “staining” the surrounding wood. If everything is down to bare wood and smooth, just proceed to the finish coat. And as Jim said, the shellac will have some amber tone that you’re trying to avoid.

[Izzy Charo]

Phil, Thanks for your advice and for the clarification...very helpful. I assume light sanding between finish coats would be OK, as the ebony dust would not be able to stain the Holly once a topcoat is applied. I also expect (perhaps hope...) that because the finish sander is connected to a powerful dust extractor that the ebony dust will not be an issue. Might be better than hand-sanding in this regard? Thanks again for your input-
Izzy

[Phil Mueller]

Correct. Depending on how thin you apply the finish, I’d do a couple coats, then sand. At that point, you’re just sanding finish, not wood, so ebony dust should not be an issue. On a small project, like a jewelry box, and especially with the ebony/holly mix, I would hand sand…easier to control. Finish is only thousands of an inch thick at this point and I’m too prone to sand through with a power sander. I also use the highest grit possible just to remove any nibs. Usually 400-600.

[Jim Becker]

And by "sanding", it's not an aggressive process. You're just taking care of defects like remaining grain raise, etc., that can occur with the first coat or so. You only do what you need to do. A white synthetic pad may be all you need; sometimes some 320/400, depending on the situation and the species characteristics.

[John TenEyck]

GF'S High Performance poly is a very nice, clear WB that goes on great with a foam brush.
But the more I think about this the more I would be inclined to buy a couple of rattle cans of clear lacquer or acrylic and spray it. No worries about color bleed, raised grain, or brush marks. Something to consider.
John

[Izzy Charo]

Thanks to everyone for their advice... I went with the GF High Performance WB (semi-gloss) and like the way it turned out! I haven't done much spraying (yet) so this was a good route for me-
Izzy

[John TenEyck]

GF's HP sprays great, too, if you add a little water to it. Very easy to spray.

John

[Scott Winners]

you have a good selection of advice here. The only thing I haven't seen mentioned is to check around at wood boat dot com, maybe wooden boat dot com. Holly inserts in the seams of mahogany flooring are quite popular on high end boats because of the contrast available in low light conditions. I don't remember how those builders get it done, but blue water sailors have been getting up in the middle of the night to check on the boat for hundreds of years.