EdgewaterWW Posted August 31, 2013 Report Share Posted August 31, 2013 I'm turning a Pen made from Purple Heart Wood, I have put on about 10 coats of finish and the wood is drinking it up (getting some shiny spots and some real dry spots). So two questions 1. do I keep on adding more finish (my plan)? or anyone got any tricks? 2. the next time (or I could sand it down and start over) should I use sanding sealer (would that stop the coat after coat applying)? If you have had this problem Woodworking (ie big broads) give your opinion please, it should apply to Woodturning. Thanks a little background info (if needed), got the wood from Woodcraft (so it was dried), I have had the blanks for over a year in pretty dry Coloroado, sanded to 600, using WTF (General Finishes Wood Turners Finish) as the finish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric. Posted August 31, 2013 Report Share Posted August 31, 2013 Yeah, I think your problem may not be that it keeps drinking up finish, but that it's not penetrating enough. Purpleheart is an oily exotic, and if you don't use a sealer of some kind for the first coat you can run into some issues. Oily woods could sit out in Death Valley for a year and still be oily. -OR- You sanded so aggressively at such a high grit that you burnished the surface and finish can't penetrate...easy to do with a tiny stick on a lathe. Try sanding it all off (with 180 then 220...and stopping at 220 or one grit higher) and starting over, using a coat or two of SealCoat before topcoating. If that doesn't work then I'd guess there's something wrong with your finish. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted August 31, 2013 Report Share Posted August 31, 2013 +1 on everything Eric said. One other option would be to wipe the freshly sanded surface with acetone to remove any of the natural wood oils from the surface, then seal as soon as the acetone has completely evaporated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trip Posted August 31, 2013 Report Share Posted August 31, 2013 ==> wipe the freshly sanded surface with acetone to remove any of the natural wood oils from the surface, then seal as soon as the acetone has completely evaporated. +1 I would also strip it and seal with shellac, then apply a top coat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdgewaterWW Posted August 31, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2013 Thank you all for the reply and info. On the first try i did use Denatured Alcohol (my normal Practice for removing dust and finger oils) 2nd try (with ur all help) wiping it down with Acetone and applying the finish worked great. Slow reply because i ran out to the shop tried it, it worked, finished the pen, boxed it up with other pens, ran over to the PO and mailed it to Australia (my first International order). WooHoo Again Thanks Eric, Steve and H³ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tim0625 Posted September 3, 2013 Report Share Posted September 3, 2013 +1 on everything Eric said. One other option would be to wipe the freshly sanded surface with acetone to remove any of the natural wood oils from the surface, then seal as soon as the acetone has completely evaporated. Steve....I have acetone but have always used lacquer thinner to wipe down purple heart and padauk before finishing. Is there a difference? I've used the thinner to prep tissue boxes like the one above - in place of my picture but I'm asking because I'm about to turn some pens like Doug in "the oilys". Is it either/or? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AceHoleInOne Posted September 4, 2013 Report Share Posted September 4, 2013 I remember when General Finishes WTF first came out. It was mentioned the product was very good on oily woods by itself. You can apply WTF over shellac used to seal. On porous, wood they recommend using General Finishes Enduro-Var for first coat or maybe two, then finish out with WTF. WTF is a thin product and will take several coats to build sufficiently. -Ace- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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