Cocobolo Finishing Question

[Jeffrey Fusaro]

I am making a Christmas ornament that has a body made from spalted maple and a cap and finial made from cocobolo.

All three parts were turned individually, wiped several times with denatured alcohol and sealed with two coats of sanding sealer. All three parts were then assembled with CA and I applied the first coat of “General Finishes Oil & Urethane” gloss finish.

After two full days, the first coat of finish has dried completely on the maple body, but the finish is still very tacky on the cocobolo cap and finial.

The cocobolo never remainder tacky with only the two coats of sanding sealer. Why is the top coat finish now not curing?

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[Brian McInturff]

My guess would be the oils of the cocobola "burned" through the sealer. The best finish for cocobolo is a good wax finish in my opinion. Actually I was watching an episode of Tim Yoder's show and he did the same thing I think, using a wax on it.
Brian

[Barry Elder]

Cocobolo is a very dense, very oily wood that doesn't take other finishes well at all. The wood from Mexico is more dense than the wood from Nicaragua. My Mexican Cocobolo is sanded to 600 or so and buffed. My Nicaraguan Cocobolo is more porous and I usually seal it with one of two coats of whatever and then buff it.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Jeffery I had the same problem when I tried to finish with poly. I did the same routine as you did and 3 days later it was still tacky. So I took the finish off the whole thing with remover. Wiped it down with mineral spirits and a synthetic pad. When it dried I immediately hit it with spray can lacquer. I followed that with a coat every 20 minutes for 4 coats. We just put it on the tree and it is not tacky.

[Jeffrey Fusaro]

thanks, guys!

i appreciate the help.

i'll try to get the top coat off and try some lacquer, or just use rennaissance wax.

that should keep things simple.

[Steve knight]

now I only tested this with one finish so I can't say for sure. but I do know this finish would not dry on cocobolo on it's own. after freshly sanding it I wipe on a coat and then hit it with my heat gun till it is dry to the touch. this may not work with a slow drying finish though. but two coats liek that I was able to use my normal finish on cocobolo.

[Justin Bukoski]

Jeffery, my suggestion is no finish. You can get a very high sheen on cocobolo by sanding to 2000 grit. Alternatively you can apply a thin coat of ca glue and then sand that out as well.

[Dick Strauss]

Jeff,
I've heard many folks say to use acetone for cocobolo oil removal. I think it is more aggressive at removing the oils (in comparison to DNA). You may want to try acetone instead of DNA next time. I'm no expert but just passing on what I've heard....


Good luck,
Dick

[Ron McKinley]

I just did a bottle stopper out of cocobolo and in my ignorance didn't wipe it with anything to remove the oils. I rubbed in two coats of Watco and buffed it out with the lathe spinning. The next morning I put it through the Beal Buff system and have no problems. But, I live in the dry Mojave Desert so maybe it's humidity giving you problems......Ron

[TYLER WOOD]

I only finish coco with wax. Not worth spending the time to finish with something else. It shines so nice with sanding to 600, 0000 steel wool then car buffing compound on it's own. Wax just protects the wood, then it's on it's way.

[Montgomery Scott]

I've worked with cocobolo for quite a while now and the only finish I use is a NC lacquer. I've never had a problem with it. cocobolo oxidizes in the presence of oil and can turn black so I never use an oil or wax finish on the bare wood.

[robert hainstock]

something that has worked for me for years is an acetone bath. If I can dip the piece, I do otherwise I wipe it down two or more times. :)
Bob

[Dean Thomas]

Robert's right, as is Dick Strauss, acetone is your friend. DNA is not a degreaser or dewaxer, where acetone is. You have to "de-wax" cocobolo, at least deep enough for your finish to penetrate enough to hold and lock out the wax seepage. I've used several different finishes successfully. On coco, I measure success by having the finish still in place after a couple of years.

I've used Watco, CA, even just Qualasol & regular Deft lacquer. If the wood is sufficiently cleansed with acetone, finishes will stick and work just fine. Did part of a pen in coco as a repair last week and used CA on it. Great finish.

Hope it helps.

[robert hainstock]

Dean,
I keep reading about ca as a finish. What is the process?
Bob

[Justin Bukoski]

Robert, to use ca as a finish once you have the form sanded to where you want it, clean it with acetone or lacquer thinner. rub on a light coat of CA glue with a nylon scratch pad (it won't react with the glue). Once it dries, sand to 800 grit and then clean and apply another coat. For high gloss that looks like plastic almost, I wet sand to 2000 grit and then use a polishing compound like EEE Ultra Shine to finish it off

[Curt Fuller]

I've been experimenting with some finish for some cocobolo serving spoon handles. If you wipe the wood clean first, then wipe on some thin CA, after that just about any finish works, including wipe on poly. But I'm going to use salad bowl finish in my spoons for washability, thanks to Keith Burns suggestion.

[Jeffrey Fusaro]

well... i was able to wipe off the sticky oil & urethane finish using mineral spirits. it came off pretty easy.

then, i used steel wool to buff the surface, and followed that up with a good coat of rennaissance wax.

two days later, everytihng is still fine.

i am still puzzled by the fact that the sanding sealer did not get sticky, but the oil & urethane did. maybe the oils in the cocobolo did actually break down the sanding sealer and that, in turn, afftected the oil & urethane.

oh well... next time, i'll try the acetone wipe and just use wax to keep things simple.

thanks for all the advice.

[Hal Kuhns]

Just bought a slab of cocobolo to use as a coat rack with Doug Mockett designer coat hooks. 1"X8"X42"! It's an awesome hunk of wood and I only heard of cocobolo this week when I surfed the web for an exotic piece to use for my project. It's rich to have found this conversation by surfing for "what's the best finish for cocobolo?" I'm very appreciative of all the comments!
Hal Kuhns
Los Gatos

[Hal Kuhns]

Can you advise between a belt sander or a palm sander for a slab of cocobolo 1"X8"X42" ? It's so hard I would think it might stand up to belt sanding. But I will experiment with the palm sander first!

Hal Kuhns
Los Gatos