Finishing Spalted Maple Burl?

R

ReverendPDP

Joined
Dec 16, 2011
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5
Greetings Gang.
Noobie here trying to finish a folder with stabilized spalted maple burl scales on it. What is the best way to bring out a high gloss on this type of scale?
I'm sanding with 400, 600, 1200 and then buffing with Jackson 51 rouge. The spalted part of the wood is taking a very nice shine but the burl is looking dull. This is making the finish look blotchy and inconsistent. Is there a better way to bring out the high lustre on the whole piece?
BTW- Not sure this makes a difference, but I'm using the micro muslin wheels on a dremel tool since I don't have a buffer yet.
 
You don't need a buffer. Here is the procedure I use for all fine wood, mainly gunstocks. The results will give you a waterproof finish that can't be beat.

Need tung oil and mineral oil. Mix 4 pts mineral and 1 part tung. put as much of this on the wood as it will soak up for several hours. This serves to seal the pores of the wood. Then, hang up and let dry for several days. DON'T touch until good and dry. Now comes the fun part. Mix 2 pts mineral with 1 part tung. Get some wet/dry emery paper of fine grades (200, 400, 600). Start with the 200 grit paper. Tear off a small piece abt size of 2" x 2" , dip in the tung oil mixture and then sand wet. Sand with the grain until you begin to raise up a gunk of wood dust. Keep dipping as needed. You will get the feel as you work. Once you have enough of a layer built up (should look like a dusty, sticky thin layer), then take a rag and wipe perpendicular with the grain on all sides. Wipe it in good so that it fills the pores. Let dry again for another day or two. You will have a hazy blank when you start again. Do the same thing again with the oil and the next grade finer of the wet/dry paper. Each time you repeat the cycle, you raise the grain, fill more pores, and sand off finer threads of wood. It is essential each time that you rub crossways the grain to fill and then let dry.

When you are satisfied, you can then do a final very find sanding with whatever grit you wish, and then put on top layers of pure tung or wax (recommend pure carnuba). This finish will give you an equal appearance in burl, spalt, or any type of wood imperfection. It is used for the finest gun stocks and will serve you well if followed as listed.

You may wish to get some walnut or other open grain fine wood and try it on a scrap first.

Best of luck - post some pics.
 
I will not argue with palmetto engineer - each of us may have diffenet approach and different understanding of what exactly the fine finish is.
I personally would not use any kind of wet sanding - even for stabilized wood. I have tried it once and hated the result - probably because I used it on light and relatively soft kind of wood. But anyway, do not have any motivation to try it again - ever.
I would recommend you to get finer grits. I usually use the following line up: 120, 200, 400, 600, 800, 1200, 1500, 2000. After 2000 you can do hand polishing using some polishing paste (I use one available at Canadian Tire in car body fixing/painting department). Using wood treatment oils makes sense after polishing is done - if the burl is not fully stabilized. By the way that could also be the reason for your patchy result. I do not polish with Dremel - usually use it only to put on the final luster buffing the wood with carnauba wax - never with polishing compound. It works for metal, not that well for wood. You can do much better with your own hands, and it will not take long.
 
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OK, I've got to disagree. There's no sense in using any type of oil on a piece of stabilized wood. You're basically dealing with a piece of plastic here. You know that already, because even the frickin' sawdust is white.

I've got several pieces in stabilized spalted maple burl sitting here right now. I know what you're saying - I've buffed them with 3000 grit, and the actual "eye" part of the burl still stays a little dull.

Have come to the conclusion that such is life, and there isn't much more I can do about it.
 
Yes as I said - oil makes sense only if the wood is not stabilized through. That happens sometimes. Otherwise - no use.
 
palmetto engineer said:
You don't need a buffer. Here is the procedure I use for all fine wood, mainly gunstocks. The results will give you a waterproof finish that can't be beat.

Need tung oil and mineral oil. .
Click to expand...

Mineral spirits, or mineral oil?


Mineral spirits are a thin solvent like turpentine.

I would expect that mineral oil is too heavy to promote penetration and will never dry
 
Mineral oil will only penetrate to about a hundredth of an inch or so, so you're correct. But again, nothing penetrates a piece of plastic.
 
Oh, what the hell. Just because we all need something to drool over.

IMG-20111206-00059.jpg
 
Mineral spirits was what I meant. And yes, this technique is for bare wood so sorry I missed the "stabilized" part. Guess I got excited about sharing a tried and true technique with others. This does work, and you get basically a very stable finish that is tough, renewable as needed, and ready for wax or any other final finish you wish. Best of luck. Yes, the burl chunk is drool material!!
 
If the piece was properly stabilized, and not some home-treatment with wood hardener, then finish like this:

dry sand to 400 grit
wet sand with 600, 800, 1000, 1200, 2000 (at this point you should have a fairly high shine and can go 2 different routes)
--A) lightly buff with no scratch pink compound and be done, finishing with a coat of carnuba wax or johnson's paste wax
--B) go one step farther with sanding using the 3M polishing pads. There's 4 pads, each side's color representing a different grit. Wet sand using these pads. Then buff with no scratch pink and finish with wax.

Depending on the finished look you are going for will dictate just how far you go with sanding and polishing. If you want a fine satin finish, there's no need to go past 1000 or 1200. If you want an even finer satin that just borders getting glossy, go to 2000. If you want glossy, use the polishing pads.
 
That's my exact advice also, said a little more coherently than I managed to do last night. Thanks, Griz.
 
GrizzlyBear said:
... go one step farther with sanding using the 3M polishing pads. There's 4 pads, each side's color representing a different grit. Wet sand using these pads. Then buff with no scratch pink and finish with wax....
Click to expand...

Thanks GB-
Do you have a link for these 3M pads? I've searched Amazon and found alot of different variations from foam pads to floor stripping and automitive pads. THX.
 
The automotive pads are what I use, FWIW. You need to use a little elbow grease, but they work real well.
 
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