One of the more useful posts I've collected from the wReck, which I
saved as a text file and reposted, rather than finding it in Google
again tonight.
Thanks, Paddy!
Patriarch
(the following is from the archives...somewhere, a while ago.)
Dearest Brian,
Allow me to introduce myself. My name's Paddy, and I'm a shellac addict
(all say, "Hi Paddy!").
Shellac over Danish oil should be no sweat. It's a great finish and
easy to apply (if you know the secret handshake). Instead of pestering
you for a bunch more information and getting involved in a protracted
ASCII-art USENET trouble-shooting marathon(fun when talking joinery but
with finishes we usually just end up losing hair and/or patience and
find ourselves muttering to inanimate objects... wait, I do that
already), houseabout you pick up another piece of scrap and try this
little trick, which has yet to fail yours truly. I'm a big clumsy no-
talent galoot, so I'm sure an erudite, astute fellow like yourself can
pull it off no problem.
First off, for our purposes, we want to employ the Danish oil to achieve
what my dear friend, the late great Paul Radovanic (I sometimes called
him Rayovac, just to try to get his goat, it never worked) called, "the
greasy paper bag effect." That is, the translucent effect a leaky ham
sandwich had on your lunch bagback in
grade school, a very thin application of Danish oil can have on a piece
of maple. I cut the oil with turpentine or mineral spirits (paint
thinner, Doug) - 1:1. Brush or wipe it on, let sit for a minute or two -
not the recommended 10 - 20 minutes, and then try to wipe it ALL off. If
you're working on an open-pored wood, you might get some oil weeping
back out of the pores. Sop it up as best you can.
Let the oil dry 24-36 hours (I sometimes don't let it dry at all, but
I'm not going to recommend this).
Cut your shellac to #1.5. This should be plenty thin for wiping, which
is what I always recommend for beginners. Heck, it's what I recommend
for everyone. Yes, you can brush shellac. Yes, beginners can brush
shellac. Yes, beginners almost always have a spazz when attempting to
brush shellac, especially thick cuts. Don't ask me how I know this. Take
an old sock; wool or cotton will work. Get a piece of an old pillow case
or table cloth and wad it around the sock, pulling it tight so there are
no wrinkles on one side. Dip it in a bowl of your
#1.5 cut of spiffy shellac. Squeeze it out until it's just damp. You're
wearing vinyl gloves, aren't you? Good. Now wipe the pad on the scrap.
Take s short break. Count some nose hairs in the back of a finely
polished chisel blade. Then wipe some more. Repeat.
When the pad begins to streak, do the dip-and-squeeze trick in your bowl
of shellac. When the pad begins to stick to the workpiece, use a couple
drops of mineral or raw linseed oil on the outside of the pad to lube
it. When the shellac is dry, the oil will clean off with mineral
spirits.
Let the shellac dry a couple days, come back, and mebbe one of these
geniuses will tell ya how to rub it out to a glassy or satiny sheen...
whichever is yer fancy. If we can't locate a polishing genius, we'll
then I'll be back. Best of luck.
Hope this helped.
Paddy
Highland Pairos wrote:
> Thanks for the re-post, I have it saved now. However, I could use
some
> clarification. After counting my nosehairs, am I just wiping the pad
across
> the piece again without redipping it?
That's correct. Initially there is no redipping. And when it comes to
ranch, salsa, spinach or artichoke, there sure as hell is no
double-dipping. The pad (remember, it's some smooth, lint-free cloth
wrapped around some absorbent fiber (fibre, Jeff)) holds a good bit of
finish.
> What does "when the pad begins to
> streak" mean? Will it go running across the shop naked?
The pad will lay down a rather uniform strip of finish, not unlike a
fresh sponge mop full of Mop-N-Glo(TM) on a clean floor. After a few
passes (with a mop on a floor or a pad on some wood) it will begin to
streak. That is, the edge-to-edge strip will have gaps, imperfections,
valleys, dry spots, etc. In other words, it just won't look shipshape.
So you recharge your pad and away you go.
The sophisticates amongst us will have a squirt bottle (easily had from
a beauty supply shop for cheap) of thinned shellac, and may choose to
unfurl the pad and squirt the shellac directly onto the absorbent
material). There really isn't even a requirement to have an absorbent
material inside your rag (though it increases the time between
recharging). Believe it or not, I still have some video on-line,
though it's not streaming, of this wiping procedure.
You'll want some decent bandwidth to gulp this file:
http://www.klownhammer.org/movies/wiping.mov
O'Deen
p.s. I DAGS on "unfurl" and came up with 17 hits in rec.woodworking. I
knew it wasn't an everyday wooddorking term. Now there will be 19
hits. Yay.
"B a r r y" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Patriarch wrote:
> > One of the more useful posts I've collected from the wReck, which I
> > saved as a text file and reposted, rather than finding it in Google
> > again tonight.
> >
>
> Thanks for reposting.
>
> A keeper for sure.
>
Try lighter, non-drying oils like olive or grapeseed as lube next time.
Thanks much Paddy.
SteveP.
"Odeen" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Highland Pairos wrote:
>> Thanks for the re-post, I have it saved now. However, I could use
> some
>> clarification. After counting my nosehairs, am I just wiping the pad
> across
>> the piece again without redipping it?
>
> That's correct. Initially there is no redipping. And when it comes to
> ranch, salsa, spinach or artichoke, there sure as hell is no
> double-dipping. The pad (remember, it's some smooth, lint-free cloth
> wrapped around some absorbent fiber (fibre, Jeff)) holds a good bit of
> finish.
>
>> What does "when the pad begins to
>> streak" mean? Will it go running across the shop naked?
>
> The pad will lay down a rather uniform strip of finish, not unlike a
> fresh sponge mop full of Mop-N-Glo(TM) on a clean floor. After a few
> passes (with a mop on a floor or a pad on some wood) it will begin to
> streak. That is, the edge-to-edge strip will have gaps, imperfections,
> valleys, dry spots, etc. In other words, it just won't look shipshape.
> So you recharge your pad and away you go.
>
> The sophisticates amongst us will have a squirt bottle (easily had from
> a beauty supply shop for cheap) of thinned shellac, and may choose to
> unfurl the pad and squirt the shellac directly onto the absorbent
> material). There really isn't even a requirement to have an absorbent
> material inside your rag (though it increases the time between
> recharging). Believe it or not, I still have some video on-line,
> though it's not streaming, of this wiping procedure.
>
> You'll want some decent bandwidth to gulp this file:
>
> http://www.klownhammer.org/movies/wiping.mov
>
> O'Deen
>
> p.s. I DAGS on "unfurl" and came up with 17 hits in rec.woodworking. I
> knew it wasn't an everyday wooddorking term. Now there will be 19
> hits. Yay.
>
Thanks for the re-post, I have it saved now. However, I could use some
clarification. After counting my nosehairs, am I just wiping the pad across
the piece again without redipping it? What does "when the pad begins to
streak" mean? Will it go running across the shop naked?
Steve P.
"Patriarch" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> One of the more useful posts I've collected from the wReck, which I
> saved as a text file and reposted, rather than finding it in Google
> again tonight.
>
> Thanks, Paddy!
>
> Patriarch
>
> (the following is from the archives...somewhere, a while ago.)
>
>
> Dearest Brian,
> Allow me to introduce myself. My name's Paddy, and I'm a shellac addict
> (all say, "Hi Paddy!").
>
> Shellac over Danish oil should be no sweat. It's a great finish and
> easy to apply (if you know the secret handshake). Instead of pestering
> you for a bunch more information and getting involved in a protracted
> ASCII-art USENET trouble-shooting marathon(fun when talking joinery but
> with finishes we usually just end up losing hair and/or patience and
> find ourselves muttering to inanimate objects... wait, I do that
> already), houseabout you pick up another piece of scrap and try this
> little trick, which has yet to fail yours truly. I'm a big clumsy no-
> talent galoot, so I'm sure an erudite, astute fellow like yourself can
> pull it off no problem.
> First off, for our purposes, we want to employ the Danish oil to achieve
> what my dear friend, the late great Paul Radovanic (I sometimes called
> him Rayovac, just to try to get his goat, it never worked) called, "the
> greasy paper bag effect." That is, the translucent effect a leaky ham
> sandwich had on your lunch bagback in
> grade school, a very thin application of Danish oil can have on a piece
> of maple. I cut the oil with turpentine or mineral spirits (paint
> thinner, Doug) - 1:1. Brush or wipe it on, let sit for a minute or two -
> not the recommended 10 - 20 minutes, and then try to wipe it ALL off. If
> you're working on an open-pored wood, you might get some oil weeping
> back out of the pores. Sop it up as best you can.
>
> Let the oil dry 24-36 hours (I sometimes don't let it dry at all, but
> I'm not going to recommend this).
>
> Cut your shellac to #1.5. This should be plenty thin for wiping, which
> is what I always recommend for beginners. Heck, it's what I recommend
> for everyone. Yes, you can brush shellac. Yes, beginners can brush
> shellac. Yes, beginners almost always have a spazz when attempting to
> brush shellac, especially thick cuts. Don't ask me how I know this. Take
> an old sock; wool or cotton will work. Get a piece of an old pillow case
> or table cloth and wad it around the sock, pulling it tight so there are
> no wrinkles on one side. Dip it in a bowl of your
> #1.5 cut of spiffy shellac. Squeeze it out until it's just damp. You're
> wearing vinyl gloves, aren't you? Good. Now wipe the pad on the scrap.
> Take s short break. Count some nose hairs in the back of a finely
> polished chisel blade. Then wipe some more. Repeat.
>
> When the pad begins to streak, do the dip-and-squeeze trick in your bowl
> of shellac. When the pad begins to stick to the workpiece, use a couple
> drops of mineral or raw linseed oil on the outside of the pad to lube
> it. When the shellac is dry, the oil will clean off with mineral
> spirits.
>
> Let the shellac dry a couple days, come back, and mebbe one of these
> geniuses will tell ya how to rub it out to a glassy or satiny sheen...
> whichever is yer fancy. If we can't locate a polishing genius, we'll
> then I'll be back. Best of luck.
> Hope this helped.
> Paddy