Friction Polish

Doubt there's any shortcomings. I use mineral oil usually. Theory is that the oil floats to the surface when the shellac cures and can be wiped off. I think it just acts as a lubricant so the shellac doesn't pill up...

...Kevin

What if any are the disadvantages in using

With the curing oil applied before the piece is sealed, it will color and cure, unlike your non-curing mineral oil. To minimize coloring from either oil, seal with straight shellac for a couple of quick coats prior to friction polishing. Won't take but an hour, tops.

I know that the oil acts as a lubricant, and the oil floating to the surface is how French polishing of furniture is explained, but there they only use a drop of mineral oil at a time. For a friction polish in turning, the usual formula is equal parts of alcohol, shellac (3 pound cut - typically what is sold at the store) and boiled linseed oil. After the alcohol evaporates (what you added and what was in the shellac), more than half of the finish is the BLO. I find it hard to believe that this is all being wiped away. May it is.

-- Martin Long Island, New York

"Martin Rost" wrote: (clip) more than half of the finish is the BLO. I find it hard to believe that this is all being wiped away. May it is. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ I agree. If the oil is going to be wiped away, it would matter very little which oil is used in the original mix--in fact I would expect non-drying oils to be preferable. I don't KNOW, but I think that by drying first, the shellac acts as a binder, allowing the finish to be handled while the oil continues to cure. If that is true, then this type of finish should become more durable over time.

For a sealer coat you don't normally want to use straight shellac - from the can it's about a #3 cut. Sealer coats are usually #1 cut or less so they penetrate and fill the pores a bit. A #3 cut will build on the surface.

I haven't really noticed a significant difference in discoloration between the shellac and the oil. Shellac is usually so yellow anyway that it has more effect than the oil if anything.

I like the mineral oil, as it's food safe - sold as an 'intestinal lubricant'. Many will argue that any finish is food safe after fully cured. I won't disagree with that. But I know there's no japan driers in mineral oil. Not so with BLO, or Tung Oil (unless they're 100% Linseed Oil or Tung Oil, in which case they're more or less in the non-curing camp along with the MO). When my customers ask me, I can tell them w/good conscience that the oil is safe for human consumption...

...Kevin

I've always sort of wondered about that too. I think some gets absorbed into the wood too. If it leaches in one dirction it must in the other as well by my way of thinking.

When I use shellac, I don't actually use the old 1:1:1 formula. I usually rub some MO into the wood, then use the same cloth or paper towel to wipe on the shellac, let that sit a few minutes, wipe off the excess then spin it up, buffing w/the same applicator. Friction dried it pretty fast. Sometimes it'll take a couple applications. Depending on a very scientific principle, called a 'whim', I may decant a bit of shellac off to a disposable container and add a bit of oil - just a dollup, probably nothing close to a third or half.

I think the lubrication is the important quality, and it doesn't really take much to achieve that...

...Kevin

"Straight" as with no oil, and as I mix my own , I use a 1# cut. If you're getting as much color from your shellac as with a mix, try a different shellac. I shop with Russ

and havebeen satisfied with both product and service.I guess you don't want to hear how a cured oil makes it possible to washaway bacterial contamination, while an uncured oil shelters same for as longas it's present.

I tell my customers not to eat the bowl.

Oh, ok. Just wanted to clarify for folks that haven't used much shellac before since most people would probably just use it straight from the can.

I'm always open to new information. May or may not adopt a particular stance, but the more knowledge to evaluate the better. Not sure that mineral oil is really conducive to bacteral retainment, it being a petroleum product, not a vegitable oil. It also evaporates over time I'm told. Since the shellac forms a film finish over the wood (with or w/o oil mixed in) I wouldn't expect much bacteria to be present assuming that the bowl is cleaned after use. The shellac is the primary finish after all.

Good comeback! Hopefully they follow that advice!

...Kevin

Kevin Miller wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@news.acsalaska.net:

I needed some to match the platina, and ended up buying from Homestead. Got the German ultra pale, both in flake and liquid.

A quart of the liquid, in a five lb cut, is _very_ convenient, when what I want is 4 ounces of 1.5 lb in a squeeze bottle, and right quick.

Patriarch