Hopefully you read this far before replying; yes, I DAGS, but still
have questions.
I am building my first classic woodworking bench, and am retaining my
current bench (solid core door on construction lumber base) for
assembly and finishing. The current bench is finished with shellac,
and waxed. Works great for keeping glue from sticking, and has the
advantage that if it gets off of level by more than a few thousandths
per foot, I know it because things slide off the low side! <g>
Seriously, I love shellac, but this bench is way too slick for working
on with hand tools, IMHO.
I like shellac for its working qualities and results. I have been
tentatively planning to use it for the traditional bench for those
reasons and because of ease of repair when I level or resurface the
top. But will the film, even if unwaxed, be too slick? Is that why oil
finishes seem to be recommended so much for this application?
BTW, if it affects your answer, this first (not ultimate<g>) bench is
of southern yellow pine.
--
Alex
Make the obvious change in the return address to reply by email.
Look in Tage Frid's book. He has a bullet proof bench finish.
Grant
alexy wrote:
> Hopefully you read this far before replying; yes, I DAGS, but still
> have questions.
>
> I am building my first classic woodworking bench, and am retaining my
> current bench (solid core door on construction lumber base) for
> assembly and finishing. The current bench is finished with shellac,
> and waxed. Works great for keeping glue from sticking, and has the
> advantage that if it gets off of level by more than a few thousandths
> per foot, I know it because things slide off the low side! <g>
> Seriously, I love shellac, but this bench is way too slick for working
> on with hand tools, IMHO.
>
> I like shellac for its working qualities and results. I have been
> tentatively planning to use it for the traditional bench for those
> reasons and because of ease of repair when I level or resurface the
> top. But will the film, even if unwaxed, be too slick? Is that why oil
> finishes seem to be recommended so much for this application?
>
> BTW, if it affects your answer, this first (not ultimate<g>) bench is
> of southern yellow pine.
> --
> Alex
> Make the obvious change in the return address to reply by email.
That is the one. He says to use burlap to rub it in across the grain.
The book is at home, but my feeble mind recalls that it takes about 4
days. I used this technique to finish some hard maple clamps that I
made. It looks nice, glue doesn't stick (I do wax them occasionally)
and they are really holding up well. I plan to build a Frid style bench
next spring and I will use this finish.
Grant
alexy wrote:
> "Grant P. Beagles" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >Look in Tage Frid's book. He has a bullet proof bench finish.
> >
> >Grant
>
> Thanks. Which book? In his TF Teaches Woodworking, Book 2 on shaping
> and finishing, he has an oil finish that he does not associate with
> benches in that book.
>
> 1) Raw LO + turps 2) BLO 3) BLO + Japan Drier.
>
> Is that the one you mean?
>
> --
> Alex
> Make the obvious change in the return address to reply by email.
He used Kevlar?
dave
Grant P. Beagles wrote:
> Look in Tage Frid's book. He has a bullet proof bench finish.
>
> Grant
>
>
>
> alexy wrote:
>
>
>>Hopefully you read this far before replying; yes, I DAGS, but still
>>have questions.
>>
>>I am building my first classic woodworking bench, and am retaining my
>>current bench (solid core door on construction lumber base) for
>>assembly and finishing. The current bench is finished with shellac,
>>and waxed. Works great for keeping glue from sticking, and has the
>>advantage that if it gets off of level by more than a few thousandths
>>per foot, I know it because things slide off the low side! <g>
>>Seriously, I love shellac, but this bench is way too slick for working
>>on with hand tools, IMHO.
>>
>>I like shellac for its working qualities and results. I have been
>>tentatively planning to use it for the traditional bench for those
>>reasons and because of ease of repair when I level or resurface the
>>top. But will the film, even if unwaxed, be too slick? Is that why oil
>>finishes seem to be recommended so much for this application?
>>
>>BTW, if it affects your answer, this first (not ultimate<g>) bench is
>>of southern yellow pine.
>>--
>>Alex
>>Make the obvious change in the return address to reply by email.
>
>
[email protected] (Mike) wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> Howdy Chuck,
>
> My bench is almost done and I think I'll follow your finishing method.
> Can you estimate how much BLO you used per coat? I don't really have
> a feel for how much to buy and I don't want to run out in the middle
> of the process. Also, is there a 'preferred' brand or is it all
> pretty much the same? TIA.
I honestly don't recall exactly how much I used. I buy BLO in
gallon cans (Parks brand, because that's what I can get easily around
here), because I use it a lot. Let's see: The first coat was just BLO
and may have used up 8-10 oz. (You can warm the BLO to get better
penetration, but all disclaimers apply about avoiding combustible
materials and open flames. Also use caution with rags; spread them
out flat to let them dry.) Then I mixed up about 8 oz. of BLO to the
same amount of turps. After applying that, I added about 4 oz. of BLO
to what left of the 50/50 mix.
I did the same (adding ~4 oz. of BLO) for a couple more coats and
then just finished off with straight BLO followed by the T&T wax/oil
mix.
So all in all, I'd guess I used up about a little more than a quart
of BLO. Obviously, YMMV depending on the size of your bench and your
method of application. But it's not important to be exact. Just
start with BLO, then go with a 50/50 mix and taper it down until
you're back to straight BLO. Apply one coat per day, rub it down well
between coats, and you'll be fine.
Chuck Vance
alexy wrote:
> I am building my first classic woodworking bench, and am retaining my
> current bench (solid core door on construction lumber base) for
> assembly and finishing. The current bench is finished with shellac,
> and waxed. Works great for keeping glue from sticking, and has the
> advantage that if it gets off of level by more than a few thousandths
> per foot, I know it because things slide off the low side! <g>
> Seriously, I love shellac, but this bench is way too slick for working
> on with hand tools, IMHO.
>
> I like shellac for its working qualities and results. I have been
> tentatively planning to use it for the traditional bench for those
> reasons and because of ease of repair when I level or resurface the
> top. But will the film, even if unwaxed, be too slick? Is that why oil
> finishes seem to be recommended so much for this application?
>
> BTW, if it affects your answer, this first (not ultimate<g>) bench is
> of southern yellow pine.
I thought about shellac, but decided to go with a finish that more
closely approaches the one used for many decades. I used a first coat
of BLO, flooded the surface and wiped it in thoroughly. For the second
coat I used roughly equal parts of turps and BLO and gradually increased
the proportion of BLO to turps until the last coat was just BLO. (I
think I did 5 coats all in all, once a day.)
Finally, I topped it off with a couple of coats of Tried & True's
oil/wax mix. That gave it just enough wax to keep glue from sticking,
but didn't make it so slick that I wound up chasing boards as they slid
off the bench. :-)
It looks good, and is extremely easy to touch up.
Chuck Vance
Conan The Librarian <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> alexy wrote:
>
> > I am building my first classic woodworking bench, <snip>
> I thought about shellac, but decided to go with a finish that more
> closely approaches the one used for many decades. I used a first coat
> of BLO, flooded the surface and wiped it in thoroughly. For the second
> coat I used roughly equal parts of turps and BLO and gradually increased
> the proportion of BLO to turps until the last coat was just BLO. (I
> think I did 5 coats all in all, once a day.)
Howdy Chuck,
My bench is almost done and I think I'll follow your finishing method.
Can you estimate how much BLO you used per coat? I don't really have
a feel for how much to buy and I don't want to run out in the middle
of the process. Also, is there a 'preferred' brand or is it all
pretty much the same? TIA.
Cheers,
Mike
> Finally, I topped it off with a couple of coats of Tried & True's
> oil/wax mix. That gave it just enough wax to keep glue from sticking,
> but didn't make it so slick that I wound up chasing boards as they slid
> off the bench. :-)
>
> It looks good, and is extremely easy to touch up.
>
>
> Chuck Vance
[email protected] (Conan the Librarian) wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> [email protected] (Mike) wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> > Can you estimate how much BLO you used per coat?
<mucho snipped>
> So all in all, I'd guess I used up about a little more than a quart
> of BLO. Obviously, YMMV depending on the size of your bench and your
> method of application. But it's not important to be exact. Just
> start with BLO, then go with a 50/50 mix and taper it down until
> you're back to straight BLO. Apply one coat per day, rub it down well
> between coats, and you'll be fine.
Thanks Chuck,
I just wanted to have a rough idea of how much BLO to have on hand
before starting so your estimates are good enough. Gee, after I get
the bench ready I'm gonna have to actually take on a real* project.
:-)
Cheers,
Mike
*real = something not related to cleaning up old tools, tuning and
sharpening old tools, building old tool storage, etc.
Conan The Librarian <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> I thought about shellac, but decided to go with a finish that more
> closely approaches the one used for many decades. I used a first coat
> of BLO, flooded the surface and wiped it in thoroughly. For the second
> coat I used roughly equal parts of turps and BLO and gradually increased
> the proportion of BLO to turps until the last coat was just BLO. (I
> think I did 5 coats all in all, once a day.)
>
> Finally, I topped it off with a couple of coats of Tried & True's
> oil/wax mix. That gave it just enough wax to keep glue from sticking,
> but didn't make it so slick that I wound up chasing boards as they slid
> off the bench. :-)
>
BLO? Basic liquid ooze?
"Grant P. Beagles" <[email protected]> wrote:
>Look in Tage Frid's book. He has a bullet proof bench finish.
>
>Grant
Thanks. Which book? In his TF Teaches Woodworking, Book 2 on shaping
and finishing, he has an oil finish that he does not associate with
benches in that book.
1) Raw LO + turps 2) BLO 3) BLO + Japan Drier.
Is that the one you mean?
--
Alex
Make the obvious change in the return address to reply by email.