I bought some Mylands high build friction polish. If I apply it while the piece is on the lathe I get what appears to be streaking. The first time this happened I figured it was a poor sanding job showing through. This time I'm fairly sure it's not the sanding. I've also used Crystal Coat and the problem doesn't occur. I'm running the Lathe at about 1800rpm and I apply the initial coat with the lath off, then I start the lathe and TRY to build the surface.
Try applying and building the finish with the lathe on.
I fold a paper towel into a pad about an inch wide and hold it under and touching the spinning work. Drip the finish from the bottle onto the near side of the turning (so it doesn't fling or splash up into your face - you would have figured this part out for yourself) and keep the pad/bottle moving along the turning as you apply/build/burnish the finish all at once. Use a fair amount of pressure against the work to burnish the finish. Takes literally no time to get an eye-popping and perfectly even finish, and you'll use a lot less finish to boot...
What size (diameter) of piece are you doing this on? The larger the size (say over 2-3" diameter), the finish may be cooling and "setting" before it gets around to your rag again. Don't use more finish ... you'll just get more streaking. You can try:
Getting more heat but pushing harder, tighter, etc. (more friction) so that it doesn't have a chance to dry before getting to your application rag again.
Use 2 rags on opposite sides of the piece. This lessens the distance between finish applicators.
If you don't think the diameter is the problem then it could be one of these:
1) You're using too much at once. It only takes a little and spread it around. It's ok to put multiple coats on as long as you let it dry between coats. This only takes a few seconds but still. Basically, you're getting clumps of it and it can't all be heated sufficiently so you'll get streaks or rings.
2) You're moving your applicator (rag) too fast or too slow. Both of these will cause streaks and rings. I can't give you an "inch per second" figure but just try experimenting with different speeds of covering the piece.
The reason the Mylands does this and the Crystal Coat doesn't is that the Mylands has far more solids (the "high build" in its name) than does the Crystal Coat. This is also one of the reasons why it gives a much better shine than does the Crystal Coat. When I was still using the commercial friction polishes, I used the Crystal Coat on my miniature, micros and thin turnings as the Mylands just had way too much build for these details. I would use the Mylands for normal pens, small boxes and about everything else I would use a friction polish on. As always, there are good and bad with any product. You just have to adjust application and use with each one.
Applying the finish while the lathe is stopped is fine. I usually only do this with really porous or open grained woods as it's tough to fill in those spots with it running at first. Normally, you don't need to apply anymore finish to your applicator after you've spread it out while stopped first. There should be enough on the applicator (and on the wood now) to do the job. Otherwise, you can get too much finish (see above).
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