Cocobolo and Wipe-on Poly

[rgdaniel]

Hi Folks... I recently made a decent little box out of cocobolo, and having had good luck with this approach on some walnut, proceeded to attempt to build up a finish using wipe-on poly. After a few coats, maybe four, it seemed like it was not drying or curing properly. It seems this has to do with the natural oils in the wood not allowing the varnish to cure. I think.

And then I noticed a similar thing maybe starting to happen with some ziricote, but I nipped it in the bud after the second coat, fine-sanded it and buffed it a bit, and it seems to be stable, and still shiny -ish.

But for the cocobolo box, I ended up having to sand the crap out of it to take away the permanent "tackiness" of the uncured finish. And now it's lost it's shininess entirely, no surprise.

So my questions:

(1) How do I resurrect the shine on my now-dull varnished and sanded cocobolo box?

(2) What do people like to use on cocobolo or ziricote, and what other woods are in this category?

[craig1963]

Good question - I also had some problem with some cocobolo inlays which would not cure like the base wood. I hope someone has the answer to this.

Craig

Hi Folks... I recently made a decent little box out of cocobolo, and having had good luck with this approach on some walnut, proceeded to attempt to build up a finish using wipe-on poly. After a few coats, maybe four, it seemed like it was not drying or curing properly. It seems this has to do with the natural oils in the wood not allowing the varnish to cure. I think.

And then I noticed a similar thing maybe starting to happen with some ziricote, but I nipped it in the bud after the second coat, fine-sanded it and buffed it a bit, and it seems to be stable, and still shiny -ish.

But for the cocobolo box, I ended up having to sand the crap out of it to take away the permanent "tackiness" of the uncured finish. And now it's lost it's shininess entirely, no surprise.

So my questions:

(1) How do I resurrect the shine on my now-dull varnished and sanded cocobolo box?

(2) What do people like to use on cocobolo or ziricote, and what other woods are in this category?

[AceHoleInOne]

You could try a light wipe with some naptha over the sticky, (*disclaimer* I have not finished a cocobolo wood before, so I don't have the hands on experience with it ) poly, wipe it wet and leave it. This should open it back up and help promote some dry. The surface has skimmed over. The natural oil in the wood is not allowing the poly to pull down into the wood so it has to gas off basically through the skimmed over surface, causing it to dry slower.

Hope this help.

-Ace-

[Danny Hellyar]

Ok I had this same problem when I attempted to finish some cocobollo. So I asked Marc about it and to my surprise he actually sent me a personal e-mail to set me straight on this matter. Your correct in assuming that the finish won't set up due to the oils in the cocobolo. At this point you will have to strip the finish you've already applied, as it will never dry. Then before you apply any other top coat finish, you need to seal the wood with a shellac sealer. This keeps the oils from your top coat finish, thus allowing it to dry. I wiped my cocobolla down with some lacquer thinner before applying the finish coat to reduce the oil content on the surface ,but forgot to put on a shellac sealer before the final finish and a year later it still hadn't hardened. That's when I asked Marc. He actually did a video or talk blog on this very subject not long ago , but like you, I also missed it.

[rgdaniel]

Ok I had this same problem when I attempted to finish some cocobollo. So I asked Marc about it and to my surprise he actually sent me a personal e-mail to set me straight on this matter. Your correct in assuming that the finish won't set up due to the oils in the cocobolo. At this point you will have to strip the finish you've already applied, as it will never dry. Then before you apply any other top coat finish, you need to seal the wood with a shellac sealer. This keeps the oils from your top coat finish, thus allowing it to dry. I wiped my cocobolla down with some lacquer thinner before applying the finish coat to reduce the oil content on the surface ,but forgot to put on a shellac sealer before the final finish and a year later it still hadn't hardened. That's when I asked Marc. He actually did a video or talk blog on this very subject not long ago , but like you, I also missed it.

I wondered if shellac might be the answer... or part of the answer... thanks a lot, that's helpful... cheers.

[iSawitFirst]

I had a similar problem with Tongue Oil on Padauk. I thought it would never dry. Three things were working against me. First, I had sanded to 320 grit and had burnished the surface. Second, Padauk is an oily wood and prevented penetration of the oil. Third, it was REALLY cold and my shop's not heated. It finally cured a month after I "finished" it.

[dtrust]

Wow. Now I may know why a recipe box I recently made for my daughter didn't finish correctly.

It wasn't Cocobola, but it was Morado, or Bolivian Rosewood, which I have since found out can be an oily wood. I had the exact same problem the OP had with the wipe-on poly not drying. I thought I had a bad batch of poly, but maybe it was oils in the wood. Never thought about the shellac as a sealer. I had to remove the finish twice, trying both poly and Formby's tung oil finish (wiping varnish). Finally gave up and just waxed it with Renaissance wax. Even that took 5 coats before it quit showing fingerprints.

Oh yeah, I also found out the hard way that I am EXTREMELY allergic to Morado. Ended up taking pills for two weeks after sanding the box to get rid of the redness and severe itching. Stiil have about 4 or 5 feet of the board left. I'll be using a hazmat suit the next time I work with it.

So glad for this thread. I will use the sealer more often now so this doesn't happen again.