General Woodturner's Finish?....

[Lee Alkureishi]

Hi everyone,

not sure how much I can add to everyone else's comments, but I've been really pleased with the WTF.

I agree with Rick - it's easy to repair the finish from WTF.

I've applied it with both cotton and paper towel, with the lathe spinning at my lowest speed of 600rpm (I know, I know...). I prefer the t-shirt material, as the paper towel soaks up a lot more finish and actually dries/hardens while applying (Probably related to my too-fast lathe speed).

I've found that it doesn't matter much what the finish looks like while I'm applying it - it usually has ridges and nibs. I usually apply about 8 coats, and it dries as quickly as I can apply it. After leaving it for about 30 minutes, I hit it with a gray scotch-brite pad which takes care of the ridges, then buff using either my homemade beall-type buffing system (for small pieces), or on the lathe with a cylinder buff in a handheld drill (for bigger pieces).

Both ways, it's produced a flawless glossy finish better than any other type of finish I've tried (unless I buff too hard/too soon, in which case the finish will crack and crystallize). I've used this on a few pieces now, including small segmented bowls and a large segmented baseball bat.

All in all, it's a great product for me and one that I'll continue to use when I want that glossy look.

Thanks

[John Keeton]

John K: You are using 0000# steel wool under a waterbased finish? I thought that was a no-no. I've heard that rust can develop long term...?

Just one of the many rules I break on a regular basis.

I believe the issues with steel wool are related more to using it on a more rough finish (as in flatwork where sanding normally stops at 220, and a finish is applied that raises the grain) and then applying water based finish. I can't imagine that there are any visible imbedded steel fibers in the finish that I am getting ready to buff as it has a fair sheen at that point anyway.

I do take caution to remove any dust and remnants, but good point to mention, though.

[Rick Markham]

Lee, I think that's the real important thing! You really can't let how it looks while your are building the coats bother you. Unfortunately that was a lesson my OCD had to learn during this process.

Jon, trust me, I wanted to smash and throw things several times during this adventure, but after the investment in time in this piece that wasn't at all a possibility. I've "mellowed" in my "advanced age" and generally don't let stuff like this bother me, I'm trying to be more "adult" about emotional responses to inanimate objects, though this one tried me. I've basically learned when I start to get frustrated it's time to walk away for awhile and let my head clear, less mistakes get made.

Prashun, I fully expected some running, infact, I got lots of streaking in the shellac coat too (I will spray the shellac next time too!) Lots of firsts in this one, and I don't often think things through as well as I should. (Nearly everything is fixable, so now it's "no big deal") I also use 0000# steel wool quite often with waterbased finishes on turnings, I'm like JK though, you really just have to be dilligent about blowing the piece off really really well with compressed air, or wiping it down with a clean cotton tshirt to make sure all the steel bits are gone. (I do a pretty in depth scrutinization to make sure there are no fibers caught in any open grain) So far no rust spots, or trapped fibers.

[Mike Cruz]

Wally, from my experience, the key to smooth coats with WTF is VERY thin coats. Don't apply this stuff thick and expect it to level out. It dries way too quickly for that. Apply just enough to wet the surface. Hence needing to put on 5-7 coats. Unlike poly, for example, where you can get by with 3.