When do you use polishing paste?

[Wally Crawford]

I mostly twice turn bowls and shellac has been my go to finish because, in my market, shiny outsells oil 10/1. Occasionally I will use Acks sanding abrasive on special pieces of wood and have always applied it to polish the shellac finish. I will follow this up with shine juice or a good polish and it give me really good results.

Does anybody use a polishing compound on raw (sanded) wood prior to applying their finish? I currently have a piece of spalted Elm on my lathe that is a really nice piece of wood and I used the Acks on bare wood prior to sanding sealer or shellac. Now I am wondering if it will interfere with the shellac or do I just go with an oil finish on this piece.

Your thoughts please and thank you.

Wally

 

[Brian Gustin]

I have not tried that but then I rarely use shellac.. Love Acks finish as it is, and if I want a water resistant finish I apply their carnauba wax over top. Obviously I can't apply a finish on top of that though, but then turn out so nicely I don't see the need for any additional finish. They come out quite shiny with just plain Ack's and Wax (Of course I do sand them down to at least 400 grit before the Ack's) I rarely apply more than one finish to a finished bowl. (never saw the point)

 

[Richard Coers]

I've never used it. It's my opinion I want to use a product that cuts, not a paste that floats over the issues with a soft rag. I use Mirka Abralon if I want to do any polishing.

 

[Mike Novak]

I always assumed the wax in the paste would prevent good adhesion of the finish, or stop the oil from soaking in.

 

[Brian Gustin]

I always assumed the wax in the paste would prevent good adhesion of the finish, or stop the oil from soaking in.

Not sure the paste has any wax to it - I HAVE sprayed a coat of Triple Thick (A fast drying high gloss spray finish I think from Krylon?) and it settled evenly and stuck very well (and is still holding up) without any of the "pebbling" (only word I can think of) that might be expected if sprayed on waxy surfaces. However the high grit (I'd guess it similar to sanding to 5,000 grit or so) does make it difficult for an oil finish to penetrate very far...

 

[Bill Blasic]

When I use Ack's products or Yorkshire Grit products I use them directly on the bare wood surface. In the articles I wrote on these products I found that a pre finish was not necessary and I continue that now.

​

 

[hughie]

I use EEE by Ubeaut Products on bare wood and mainly on hardwoods. I can add any other finish to it such as a gloss or satin, there are occasions I have had go over the piece with DNA as its a bit oily

 

[Kent Reisdorph]

I don't always use a grit, but I will based on mostly gut feel at the time. I use Yorkshire grit or Ack's in two ways:

1. Apply the grit to bare wood, then follow with Tried and True Original or another oil finish.
2. If I want a little extra shine, I will shellac, sand that with 320 or 400, and then apply the grit and final oil finish.

I don't see any real difference in how the finish soaks in using

 

[Randy Anderson]

My standard finish process is to use Acks or Yorkshire grit on the bare wood to give it a nicer surface and enhance the colors. I let it sit for a day or so and then apply shellac. Usually 4 coats hand applied. Shellac will stick to anything and never had an issue with it over the abrasive paste products. I do make sure I finish up with a paper towel until it comes back mostly clean. I'll sometimes use a grey 3M pad as my final buff to help get more of the paste off if I think it's still lingering on the surface too much. Net, shellac over abrasive paste has always worked for me.

On larger higher end pieces I still use the abrasive paste but there are multiple layers of sealers and barrier coats applied before the final clear finish so no worries that it will cause an issue.

 

[Wally Crawford]

This is all good info. Thanks guys.

 

[Michael Perez]

Hello, I use EEE Ultra Shine for the initial polish, followed by sealing with Doctor’s Pen Plus. However, in my experience, this combination doesn’t work well with all types of wood. For example, when using it on purpleheart, the paste tends to fill the wood’s pores, resulting in a greyish appearance in the grain. I’m now looking for another polish because, even though it works great, I find the odor too strong for me.

 

[Gord Cameron]

There is wax and oil in abrasive pastes, and these will have their own effect on the appearance of the wood, but I have never had a finish adhesion issue when I have used the paste on bare wood and then put shellac or oil over it. I would worry more about poly.

I frequently use isopropyl alcohol (functionally similar to DNA) to clean my work, and almost always give the piece a wipe with it after abrasive paste (or the tripoli and white diamond compounds on the Beall buffs). This might not be necessary, but it makes me feel better.

 

[Neil S]

I use my own version of EEE mixed in with my bee and carnauba wax finish. I use just one application to the sanded wood and then polish off in one go. It's a skill in itself. The solvent I use is pine turpentine, which evaporates very quickly leaving the carnauba as hard streaks on the surface if not worked in and evened out with the cutting action of the EEE (rotten stone) while the turpentine is still keeping the paste moving. It's a super fast finish that I adopted back when I was more in bowl production mode.

 

[Stan Pressner]

I often put the first coat of walnut oil on prior to using Ack's or Hampshire Grit. It gives me slightly deeper penetration and seems to help the grit work better.

 

[Steve Worcester]

... "pebbling"...

the technical term is orange peel, but pebbling works. It is caused when the product dries too fast and didn't get to flow out smooth