Help…High luster/gloss finish for a Mohagany Vase
I am new too woodturning, I started in February. After several projects, I made a 14 inch vase out of Mohagany that I took from a pew at my church. No I didn’t steal it. 🙂 The Church got new pews and I thought it would be a good use of the wood from the old pews.
My dilemna is what and how to finish this vase. Shellac, varnish, wax, toungue oil, etc., etc. etc. It’s all a foreign language to me. My only real experience in finishing is either using a stain and then for the most part, always placing several coats of MinWax Polycrylic Protective Finish on the piece. I don’t think that is going to cut it for this vase.
Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Remember, my desire is to have the highest luster/gloss on the vase as possible. Oh, in addition, does it matter to what extent you sand the piece? It’s currently sanded to 2000 grit. I liked the real smooth feel it has and looks great too. But when sanding to that extent, does that have an adverse affect when I finish the vase?
Replies
Finishing
The easiest way to get a high gloss finish on a turned piece is to do it right on the lathe. There are a couple of products that will work: HUT Crystal Coat and Behlen Woodturner's Finish (both available form Woodcraft). You apply it and buff it to a high sheen with the rotation of the piece. Normally you would not sand a piece of furniture to more than 180 or 220 because doing so fills the pores of the wood and pigmented stains and oils cannot penetrate very much. You could use a dye instead, but in your case I believe that just applying the Crystal Coat or Woodturner's Finish will do the trick. It's easy and fast. HUT also makes a product that will fill the grain before the application of the Crystal Coat. Mahogany has an open grain and you should consider using it first to give you a glass-like finish. Post a picture when you're done. Nice job with the vase.
Jim
Jim,
Thanks alot for the info. Unfortunately, I already started with a Shelac process that was recommended to me. Not sure I like the results so far. My next piece I'll certainly make the trip to Woodcraft to get some Hut Crystal Coat. I defintiely want that high gloss, glass like finish.
Thanks,
John More
Polishing a finish
John,
There is currently another thread going on in the General Discussion category called "Polishing Shellac To GLOSS". It might be of interest to you. The thing that you need to know is that before rubbing out a finish, it must have hardened first (not just dried, but actually hardened). Shellac hardens very quickly whereas varnish takes a long time. You will need to build up a thick enough finish to ensure you don't rub through the finish back to bare wood. It's not that hard and for you, would be easily done on the lathe.
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