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Thread: Best finish for black walnut slab?

  1. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by Scott Holmes View Post
    Why are you wiping off a wipe-on varnish? That's the technique for an oil/varnish blend; not a wipe-on varnish.
    Me? Maybe I misspoke. I don't wipe off my wiping varnish, even Arm-R-Seal which IS an oil/varnish blend. The first coat I put on a little heavy and keep the surface wet until spots that are thirsty stop absorbing the finish. Once I see it is uniform everywhere, I wipe it to a thin layer. Is that wiping it off? Yes, I guess I do wipe some off with the first coat. On subsequent coats I wipe it on, period.

    John

  2. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by Scott Holmes View Post
    On walnut I like to apply a light coat of dewaxed garnet shellac then apply the top coat. To my eye the garnet really enhances the look of the walnut.
    Absolutely. The first time I used the garnet shellac on walnut, I wanted to go back to a previous piece, strip it, and redo it.

    Sanity prevailed, of course. But still - I always do that now. Some guys use orange dye. I mean orange dye. I might try that next walnut project.
    When I started woodworking, I didn't know squat. I have progressed in 30 years - now I do know squat.

  3. #18
    My vote is no. Some people find that an initial coat of oil brings out the grain more. I do not experience that it helps under an oilbased finish - or even under shellac.

    On the contrary, I find that putting oil on first can sometimes inhibit the drying of subsequent coats if the oil is not given sufficient drying time; I find the oil coat a waste of time if you are ultimately putting down shellac and waterlox.

    But that's just my experience.

  4. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by Prashun Patel View Post
    Eugene-
    In proper disclosure, I got a PM from Scott Holmes (he's a pro; I am not) that sanding beyond 220 is fruitless and a waste of paper in this case.

    i humbly don't think it's a waste (at least not too much!) on walnut. The reason is that walnut tends - for me - to absorb finish at different rates across a slab. This means that I get some dull areas for the first several coats, while other areas begin to build fairly quickly. The net effect for THIS nonpro is that I end up creating a more built up finish than I intend that subsequently begs to be rubbed out later. For me, sanding to a higher grit does indeed burnish the wood, but it also makes the first few coats go on uniformly. This allows me to put on fewer coats before I achieve a uniform sheen. A quick sanding with 600 before applying an final coat, and then I'm done. No need to rub out.

    Again, once I become better, I may too conclude this is a waste of paper. But for now, the regimen works pretty well and is easy for me.

    You can even wetsand the initial coats in with 400g to partially fill the pores.


    I agree with you Prashun, and i also agree with Scott. Crazy? Nah It depends on what your trying to accomplish. My best work is always sanded down to 600 or more like even `1500, if using Cyanoacrylates i have even sanded to 12000 micro mesh. the relation of sanding or polishing is concurrent with what types of materials are chosen or needed for the job and the outcome hoped for or known from doing so previously. For example, if using water soluble colors and extremely thinned coatings, 600 is no where near out of the question. My standard Baker finish was such, sanded to 600 or more, then water dyed, then over thinned coats of lacquer or acrylic, [9.5 parts thinner to .5 part coating. At a solids content of 20% this gave me a ready to apply [RTA] coat of only 1% solids. Which easily was absorbed to about the same degree as using say 220, and using it unthinned or only thinned say 10-20%

    Of course this was not done to build with, only to make sure the adhesion was as intact as if done more normally. This is true of my french polishing also where i first apply only a 1/8-1/4 lb. cut instead of a heavier one, not that it wouldn't adhere well anyway, but in test i found that even when scoring and using duct tape when the finish came off, it took fiber of the wood with it also, a good sign.


    Again, Scott's right if using heavier bodied finishes where you need more tooth for best performances.
    Last edited by sheldon pettit; 12-07-2012 at 7:54 PM.
    Sincerely,

    S.Q.P - SAM - CHEMMY.......... Almost 50 years in this art and trade and counting...

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