My Favourite Finishes and How to Apply Them

[@AussieWoodshed]

Relevant Links: + Creating a Beautiful Butt-Jointed Box - kzbin.info/www/bejne/gJqVl2Bprqynnpo + Make Your OWN Paste Wax - kzbin.info/www/bejne/fYXbo5Swo9OHn6s + Shellac Woodworking Finish - kzbin.info/www/bejne/rKKZpYONgtqXnLM + How to Tint Shellac Wood Finish - kzbin.info/www/bejne/jpLZg5h5e9ChsLc

[@beauprejean-michel3829]

Hi, thx for your video, very instructive indeed. I like natural finishes too, but truly steel wool is an issue, efficient but painful with the residues, particularly on repairing / refinishing electric guitars : the magnetic pickups will catch métal particles and it needs way too much work to take out. Cheers from France

[@AussieWoodshed]

@@beauprejean-michel3829 Thanks, glad you liked the video. Thanks for sharing your steel wool experience, sounds like a real pain when used on those guitars. Thanks again for your comment.

[@paulleary1775]

Excellent information here Luke, thanks!

[@AussieWoodshed]

Thanks Paul

[@DaileyWoodworks]

10:31 you’re mistaken wax oil mixes can still spontaneously combust. Wax is flammable as well. This has been a very informative video. Great job.

[@AussieWoodshed]

@@DaileyWoodworks Flammable and spontaneous combustion are 2 complete different things. The way linseed oil spontaneously combusts while drying is it generates enough heat while contained in a small space with combustible material eg paper towels and requires the fire triangle to achieve this, heat, fuel source, oxygen. Once the beeswax is added to the mixture it blocks the oxygen so it cannot physically spontaneously combust. If you were correct you could never be able to store paste wax as it would just catch fire. Also the spontaneous burn point of linseed oil and other curative oils is about 120 C the burn point of bees wax is 204.4 C so it's not even hot enough to ignite the beeswax Even if the oxygen is present. The melting point of beeswax is about 62 C so at most it would melt the beeswax, but my beeswax does not do this as there is no heat generated as there is no oxygen present due to the wax.

[@PeteLewisWoodwork]

Excellent video. I have several comments that I would like to add but it's late here in UK now. Honestly, one of the most interesting videos I have seen for quite a while.

[@AussieWoodshed]

Thanks Pete, i look forward to seeing your comments.

[@PeteLewisWoodwork]

@@AussieWoodshed My favourite finish is shellac and wax, where appropriate. Most of my day work is carpentry and they only want fast-finish, hard-wearing, high-gloss varnish - or paint; I don't like that. Way back when I was a school kid, my best friend's father was a French Polisher and I remember him wearing breathing apparatus while rubbing away with pads to create a high gloss finish on furniture refurbs. I had a go at it years later and I can still remember how all of a sudden, the rubbing friction caused the shellac to burst into shine. BUT...these days, I like the easy route; just wax or brushed shellac and wax is what I like. I don't use pigments to shade or colour anything - the most I will use is soaked teabags to make something look a bit aged (a trick I learned in my trainee days). I would say to beginners, when in doubt, just use vegetable oil!

[@AussieWoodshed]

@@PeteLewisWoodwork interesting thanks for sharing once again Pete

[@PeteLewisWoodwork]

@@AussieWoodshed An old method in colder climates (like winter here in UK) is to obviously warm the work area - AND - the work piece itself if the finish requires it. Also, in such conditions, lots of thinned coats is better than one thick coat that could take forever to harden when cold, possibly spoiling it in the process. A lot of traditional finishers use cellulose thinners and frequently have to resort to anti-bloom cellulose (to eliminate whitening of the finish) in cold or moist/humid conditions - but that's another topic. As for 4xO wire wool, I have tried loads of brands over the years and - cheap or expensive - they all eventually break down and go stiff and/or leave 'filings' on the surface that can be difficult to get rid of. I think the only solution is to change to a fresh piece frequently before those situations occur. When I use them with Briwax to restore antique doors and furnishings at work, I buff it all over with a rotary polishing bonnet in a cordless drill because the friction brightens the wax and gets rid of the steel wool filings.

[@AussieWoodshed]

@@PeteLewisWoodwork thanks for sharing, it's interesting to hear how to overcome the issues with the cold. Also thanks for your suggestions with the steel wool.

[@hughh106]

Good video!

[@AussieWoodshed]

Thanks

[@johnlarkin9815]

This video is just what I needed:). I've been using boiled linseed oil plus a furniture wax with mixed results. To improve things I've even applied a water based varnish over the wax finish! Needless to say it didn't improve things. Raw linseed oil and/or shellac plus a wax paste looks like an easy and effective finish. I'll definitely give it a go. Buffing with a shoe polish brush should be a help too. Many thanks.

[@AussieWoodshed]

Glad to hear the video was helpful

[@brandonhoffman4712]

Ive been researching food safe finishes. Ive settled on a 50/50 mix of tung and linseed in the food safe variety. Im going to use D-limonene as a solvent, also one that states its food safe/grade. Im going to spend more on cutting board finish than on the cutting board...

[@AussieWoodshed]

The most important thing is its food safe. Thanks for sharing your research.

[@anthonyseiver7000]

I use Rocket brand 0000 steel wool and it falls apart too.

[@AussieWoodshed]

Interesting thanks Anthony

[@DavidLambert-w6d]

What type of shellac brown , dewaxed or white from ubeaut polishes?

[@AussieWoodshed]

I mix my own shellac primarily these days. I have used white and blonde de-waxed shellac from Restorers's Choice, (www.restorerschoice.com.au/products/dewaxed-blonde-shellac-flakes-french-polish) whatever is available at the time as they are both nice light almost colourless shellacs. (you can also buy premixed from this same store in a variety of colours, but i have not used their premix. This is also the same place i source my denatured alcohol in case you are interested. I also mix my own amber shellac from Feast Watson, as i have used this amber premix shellac before (its called Feast Watson French Polish) I believe this shellac is not dewaxed. And finally come to U Beaut as you mentioned and their only product that i have used is U Beaut White Shellac Polish, which is dewaxed (from Timbecon if your interested) You mentioned Brown in your comment, to get the brown shellac you may have seen me use on hand plane handles i add a small amount of brown leather dye to the shellac (alcohol based not water, it must be alcohol based some times called aniline leather dye to mix with the shellac) I have done this with all types of shellac and never had a problem, you just keep adding dye and testing until i get the colour I'm looking for. I have not had any issue with any of these shellacs and they have all worked well for me. I know sometimes the shellac can dry slower as it goes off from premixed, but i have not experienced this with any of the premixed shellac i have purchased. I mainly mix my own shellac so i can mix it in smaller quantities when needed and control the CUT used. Hope this helps you out, if you have any more questions please ask.