Finishing a Mesquite Lamp

[ILTexAg]

I've just finished sanding a set of lamps I made from Mesquite down to 600 grit. The grain has a lot of swirls and spalting in it and I'd like to get your opinions of how to finished these lamps to show off the grain, give it some sheen, and also protect the finish. I was thinking about applying some tung oil and then some Behlen's woodturners finish...but I also have some waxes I think might work. Any suggestions for a newby?
IlTexAg

 

[Paul Engle]

TRY burnish on the tung on the lathe, coat good , spin and burnish, let sit a couple of minutes, check for dry spots , recoat , spin burnish , buff with shop rag while spinning to get excess off then let dry over nite, check it out.

 

[Richard Baker]

An alternative is to start with a lacquer-based sanding sealer. Wipe on and burnish until dry. Do the last "rub" by hand, with the grain, to be sure there are no circular marks around the piece. Dry overnight. Apply one to three coats of spray lacquer. Can be a little tricky, as one wishes to apply a full wet coat but not have any runs or drips. Let dry two days or more. Buff with tripoli if needed, then white compound, then wax. I make my own buffing wheels, just a bunch of circles cut out of old white cotton sheets, bolted together with a couple of big washers. I just wax with a cloth, on the lathe, let dry a while, and polish on the lathe with a clean cloth.

 

[Joe Greiner]

Can be a little tricky, as one wishes to apply a full wet coat but not have any runs or drips.

To reduce runs on sprayed turnings, consider a rotisserie motor - about 5-6 rpm. Select a motor with clockwise rotation (facing the drive socket). Jury-rig a driveshaft from a wood dowel: Square one end to engage the rotisserie motor, and a very long taper at the other to self-engage the interior LH thread of the outboard lathe spindle. Mount the rotisserie motor to anything reasonably solid; it doesn't produce very much reactive force on the mounting. Put lots of old newspapers and masking tape on the bed, headstock, tailstock, and anything else vulnerable. Run the rotisserie motor until the coating dries. For best results on mechanically variable speed lathes (e.g. Reeves or stepped-cone pulleys), set the lathe speed at its highest to reduce the passive load from the lathe motor. Lathe motor OFF, of course.

Joe