Ridges on wax finish

[ryan kelley]

I applied a carnuba wax finish on a piece yesterday but I kept getting ridges. I applied the wax to the spinning piece then used a cotton rag to "buff" it out. Kept the rag moving but the problem still happened. Is it a speed thing, am I applying to much pressure? Need any help I can get.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Ryan without seeing the piece it is just a guess. I had that happen to me a couple of times and what I found was it wasn't the wax that was leaving the ridges it was the wood that had ridges from my faulty sanding. My sanding when I first started wasn't as good as it should have been. I didn't spend the time I should have. Now I spend almost more time sanding the wood than I do turning. Depending what I am working on I will sand from 80 or 100 grit up to sometimes 600 grit. Just a thought.

[Bob Vallaster]

Ryan,
Carnuba in high concentration is a hard wax.
I have used carnuba in the form of the small brick that Hut sells...and it leaves ridges like a champ. Unless you are depositing lint from the rag, it sounds to me like this is excess wax piling up on the object's surface.
The way I have proceeded with pens and other spindles is to apply it liberally, then remove the excess. I prefer a clean, lint-free rag pulled tight over a burnishing stick (tongue depresser, paint stir-stick, etc), but I confess to using small pads made from paper towel. Spin in the medium-to-high range, apply the wrapped stick to the turned surface with enough pressure to melt the wax and make it flow. The surface under the stick will shortly improve to a gloss and the excess wax will migrate to the rag. Move laterally to keep the process going. Be prepared to change to stick's bearing spot because the wrapping will load up---when that happens, you'll be laying down ridges again.
The usual cautions apply: tool rest removed, do not wrap rag around body parts lest they wrap you around the lathe, and (if you apply the rag to the turning object) the heat to flow carnuba is precisely the temperature that will blister a fingertip.

Bob V

[Jim Becker]

Sounds like too much wax to me...you only need a VERY LITTLE of that stuff to get a fine finish. Too much and you'll get "wax balls" every time.

[robert hainstock]

Thats the first ting that I encountered with carnuba. my cause, toooo much wax. Good luck! :mad::mad: