Oil finish on contrasting woods

[Mark Chandler]

How should I handle wet sanding with watco on a padauk/yellowheart laminate? I am concerned about the padauk staining the yellowheart.

[Tdog]

I would opt for finishing the bare wood to 320, maybe 400 grit and build up the Watco with a dry buff of steel wool between coats. I've used a fair amount of Padauk over the years and would not chance the slurry (created by the wet sanding of the Padauk) contaminating the Yellowheart.

BTW......Sometimes, steel wool can leave tiny slivers of steel behind. Overtime, in the case of an instrument neck, these slivers could rust and discolor the wood....Although you may never notice with Padauk!!!!!!.......So, for applications such as this, I would recommend the grey 3M pads in place of steel wool.

I've done many fine art furniture pieces with this method (Watco)...It looks great after a wax buff, but is not a very durable finish.....but is easily repaired.

I hope this helps.

[M_A_T_T]

BTW......Sometimes, steel wool can leave tiny slivers of steel behind. Overtime, in the case of an instrument neck, these slivers could rust and discolor the wood....Although you may never notice with Padauk!!!!!!.......So, for applications such as this, I would recommend the grey 3M pads in place of steel wool.

This is exactly why I don't use steel whool anymore.

[tjclem]

the gray then the white pads..t

[Tdog]

Originally Posted by tjclem

the gray then the white pads..t

For most of my work, I skip the white 3M pads and diamond buff the surfaces......The white pads can actually burn/melt onto some surfaces (acrylics and polyesters) if you are using them on lathes or by using the pads on some types of sander/polishers at too high speeds. Using them by hand should yield fine results.

[tjclem]

I don't have a machine to buff. What do you use after the white pads if you are doing it by hand?

[Mark Chandler]

so then how do i go about getting a similar finish as described in the watco directions posted aroud here?

[Tdog]

If you have a random orbital sander, polishing pads are available to attach to the velcro heads. I also get paint 100% cotton paint rags from Sherwin-Williams to use as buffs and application cloths....sometimes I just use my hands to rub in the oil. I mainly use Minwax Finishing paste wax after the equivalent treatment of 0000 steel wool......You will end up with a very warm lusterous finish.....as I said though, this is my method with art furniture, if you would use this type of finish on a bass, it would require a lot of rewaxing. You may even want to try Briwax....It is a much more durable and hard wax, but is much more difficult to apply.