Hard Wax Oil Finishes

[lewisc]

Yep, those Australian accents are hard to follow.
 

He’s like the Melbourne woodwhisperer. Just not quite as YouTube famous. He’s got a few good videos to watch. 

[Coop]

I guess I’m not much on accents as I took him to be Irish? 

[lewisc]

Maybe? Not quite the typical Australian accent.  One reason I enjoy watching him is that he uses much of the same timber as I do - Victorian Ash.  Which is the timber I used for my desk and posted earlier in the thread for the OSMO example.

[Mark J]

I love the accent; wish I could speak like that.  But he chops off sylables with his edits, and he talks really fast.  I thought you Australians were more laid back .

[wtnhighlander]

To my Southern US ear, British, New Yorker, and Creole accents are just as difficult to follow. O'm certain that my accent is just as difficult for them.

I once saw a bit the Discovery Channel where a speech expert tried to identify the origin of the Australian english accent. She placed it as a blend of Scottish, Welsh, and "drunk".  True story.

[Tpt life]

Auto closed captioning was fairly good for anyone struggling to hear some of his words. 

[Mark J]

He mentioned that these products can be purchased in various tints.  Has anyone ever tried any of the colors?  I'm wondering if the hardwax oils may be more or less prone to splotch than polyurethane based products.

[Mick S]

1 hour ago, Mark J said:

He mentioned that these products can be purchased in various tints.  Has anyone ever tried any of the colors?  I'm wondering if the hardwax oils may be more or less prone to splotch than polyurethane based products.

Darrell Peart has moved to Livos Kunos for his G & G projects after using General Finishes stains for years. At his suggestion, I tried their Cocobolo tint as an undercoat to 3 coats of natural on the sapele tops I posted above. It was not at all splotchy. The Livos is thinner than Osmo Polyx. Both flatten out really well.

[Chestnut]

With Osmo, what's the difference between Polyx and their "wood wax finish". Well honestly there are a few finishes they have and I'm having a hard time getting any information on the differences.

[Mick S]

Polyx is their primary finish for furniture and flooring. Top Oil can be applied over Polyx for a slightly more durable finish and is their go to for countertops. I’m not sure, but it seems to have a higher wax proportion. It seems stickier when applying to me. I have not had any issues with wear using Polyx, so it seems redundant to me. 
Each comes in a variety of sheens from mat to glossy. I use the satin and can buff it to whatever sheen I want once it’s cured. 
They make an exterior blend that Marc is Using on his kamado stand. Most have colored variations also. 
They don’t publish their formulas, so knowing specifically what the difference is from one to another is hard to discern. 

[JohnG]

@Mick S I did a test with 3 coats Polyx applied with a white pad and ended up with some tiny bubbles (?) that can be felt and under certain light can be seen. I followed the brief instruction on the can, but I’m sure this was user error in some way- applied too thick? Have you ever experienced this? Coats were applied 12+ hrs apart. I didn’t do anything to the Polyx between coats other than making sure there wasn’t any dust on the surface. Any advice?
 

I’ll try to take pictures this evening after the kids are in bed. 

[Mick S]

1 hour ago, JohnG said:

but I’m sure this was user error in some way- applied too thick?

That would be the only thing I can think of. I haven't seen that, but I put a TINY bit on the tip of the pad and work it in until it won't spread any more.

[JohnG]

11 minutes ago, Mick S said:

That would be the only thing I can think of. I haven't seen that, but I put a TINY bit on the tip of the pad and work it in until it won't spread any more.

Thanks, I will cut it back and try again. I thought I was only using a little bit but it really does go far! 

[Gary Beasley]

I found this video early on, helped a

 

[Mick S]

Nice video, Gary. Thanks for posting it. I'm totally in agreement with him. 

[JohnG]

Okay, I definitely applied it too thick the first time. I didn’t bother taking a photo and instead scraped the wood clean, sanded, and have applied a (second) first coat. 
 

[JohnG]

Ok, one side of this piece of cherry has 2 coats PolyX and the other side has 3 coats ARS. Both satin. Shown at slightly different angles/light. 

To be honest, if I didn’t already know which was which, I don’t think I could tell you by sight or by feel. My wife couldn’t tell any difference.

PolyX goes much further than expected based on the volume and is very easy to apply (once you figure out how much to use). ARS is also pretty easy, but does take more work (sanding between coats, after final coat). 

I really like the PolyX, but with only having good luck with ARS I wouldn’t say it blows me away. Maybe it’ll be different after using it on an actual project.

 

[treeslayer]

Very hard to tell, what one is ARS? Both look great

[Mick S]

Try one more coat of the PolyX.

[JohnG]

Just now, Mick S said:

Try one more coat of the PolyX.

That is in the plan, but since 2 coats got it to about the same look/feel I wanted to take some pics to compare them first. 

When I had the thicker coats on, the PolyX did have a bit “warmer”  of a look and feel to it, so I think after the 3rd coat it may gain some of that back. Will report back tomorrow once it has dried. 

[Mick S]

12 minutes ago, JohnG said:

That is in the plan, but since 2 coats got it to about the same look/feel I wanted to take some pics to compare them first. 

When I had the thicker coats on, the PolyX did have a bit “warmer”  of a look and feel to it, so I think after the 3rd coat it may gain some of that back. Will report back tomorrow once it has dried. 

I had similar results when I did my kitchen cabs - cherry & mesquite. Soaked it up, but the cherry I used was air dried since 1983. I wound up with 4 coats on the doors and drawer fronts, 3 on the rest. Now I just put coats on till I'm satisfied.

[Just Bob]

I bought a can of Polyx today and tried it out on some picture frames.  I have a question about time between coats, the standard appears to be 8 to 10 hours between coats.  But I watched Marc's video and he waited just 1 hour between coats.   Since I am an impatient finisher, that appealed to me and I am pleased with the results.  However, am I missing something, and do I need to the longer time.

[JohnG]

On 5/1/2020 at 2:19 PM, treeslayer said:

Very hard to tell, what one is ARS? Both look great

In those photos, the left side is ARS and the right side is PolyX

On 5/1/2020 at 2:28 PM, Mick S said:

Try one more coat of the PolyX.

I applied a third coat and may try a fourth since it's a test. I didn't notice a big difference after the 3rd coat but it is ever so slightly "warmer." After the 3rd coat of PolyX, the ARS side is slightly lower friction, like you can feel the wax a bit in the PolyX. I haven't done any buffing after the last coat, so that could potentially bring it back.

The huge benefit I see to PolyX is that there is no sanding needed between coats, and my test piece didn't need any buffing/sanding after the last coat. Zero dust nibs or roughness. With ARS I always lightly sand between coats with p400 and then after the last coat with ~p1000. It may sound trivial but I always hate that part of the process.

Since I have the PolyX I'll use it on my next few projects to get a better feel for it and see how the durability is.

[Mick S]

On 5/1/2020 at 9:01 PM, Just Bob said:

I bought a can of Polyx today and tried it out on some picture frames.  I have a question about time between coats, the standard appears to be 8 to 10 hours between coats.  But I watched Marc's video and he waited just 1 hour between coats.   Since I am an impatient finisher, that appealed to me and I am pleased with the results.  However, am I missing something, and do I need to the longer time.

I wait the recommended time.

[Chip Sawdust]

On 4/25/2020 at 10:04 PM, wtnhighlander said:

To my Southern US ear, British, New Yorker, and Creole accents are just as difficult to follow. O'm certain that my accent is just as difficult for them.

I once saw a bit the Discovery Channel where a speech expert tried to identify the origin of the Australian english accent. She placed it as a blend of Scottish, Welsh, and "drunk".  True story.

One of my visits to Scotland in a hotel lounge I remarked that they all had accents. We all had a laugh and another pint. They blamed ME for having an accent