Dave Hawksford
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From Larry: hey Dave, you gave us a short hint of what you done to make this piece shine but could you take some time and give us the technique from start to finish..
I have to admit I did cheat a bit. I needed to get the oil to the point of build (sealed surface) so I sprayed it with lacquer sealer 1 coat instead of 3 coats of shellac. Lacquer sealer makes a great base for just about any finish I know of. It is receptive to oils, acrylic's, shellacs, kerosene finishes , wax finishes, faux finishes various gilding and acid over lay finishes, varnishes, epoxy's, the list goes on.
Anyway after the sealer coat was sanded I took 100 % tung oil and mixed 10% damar varnish and 10% BLO and then started dropping on drops and rubbing the drops out 10" - 12"'s X 10"-12"'s a drop for 5 coats sanding between each coat lightly. Finial costs were 100% tung oil. after each coat the amount it took to cover the area 10x 12 took less and expanded to the point where 1 drop would do a 16" X 9" drawer, 3 drops would do the lower side. The less drops the hotter the oil became because of the vigorous rubbing.
Before the finial finish was applied I used 600 grit wet sand paper and a little spit and water to sand the surface. Spit is a great lubricate for wet sanding. I then began waxing; 3 coats minimum, 1st coat was rubbed out with Liberon 0000 steal wool, you do not use hardly any wax just enough to fill and areas that have slight indentations , like grain that did not fill. Then polish and repeat 2 more times except with a fine cotton cloth to apply and another clean cloth to take off. If this is done correctly the finish will shimmer in the light. It will not be a high gloss but it will give you a great reflection.
I have to admit I did cheat a bit. I needed to get the oil to the point of build (sealed surface) so I sprayed it with lacquer sealer 1 coat instead of 3 coats of shellac. Lacquer sealer makes a great base for just about any finish I know of. It is receptive to oils, acrylic's, shellacs, kerosene finishes , wax finishes, faux finishes various gilding and acid over lay finishes, varnishes, epoxy's, the list goes on.
Anyway after the sealer coat was sanded I took 100 % tung oil and mixed 10% damar varnish and 10% BLO and then started dropping on drops and rubbing the drops out 10" - 12"'s X 10"-12"'s a drop for 5 coats sanding between each coat lightly. Finial costs were 100% tung oil. after each coat the amount it took to cover the area 10x 12 took less and expanded to the point where 1 drop would do a 16" X 9" drawer, 3 drops would do the lower side. The less drops the hotter the oil became because of the vigorous rubbing.
Before the finial finish was applied I used 600 grit wet sand paper and a little spit and water to sand the surface. Spit is a great lubricate for wet sanding. I then began waxing; 3 coats minimum, 1st coat was rubbed out with Liberon 0000 steal wool, you do not use hardly any wax just enough to fill and areas that have slight indentations , like grain that did not fill. Then polish and repeat 2 more times except with a fine cotton cloth to apply and another clean cloth to take off. If this is done correctly the finish will shimmer in the light. It will not be a high gloss but it will give you a great reflection.