I have a cocobolo slab that will be a top for a sofa table. By "slab",
I mean that the edges of the board extend to both bark edges. There's
no more bark, but the contrasting beige sap wood about 3/4" wide runs
down both edges. I intend to keep the natural edge.

I'm looking for suggestions on finishing. Would a penetrating oil
finish(e.g watco) work on such a dense wood? The wood is deep red
with almost black streaks, and since oil tends to darken wood, would
oil "un" enhance these colors?

Is there any special treatment for bark edges?

I'll do some experimenting, but the would is pricey so there's not
many scraps.

Thanks,

Mitch

On Nov 3, 3:21 pm, ROY! wrote:
On Sat, 03 Nov 2007 11:06:20 -0700, MB wrote:
I have a cocobolo slab that will be a top for a sofa table. By "slab",
I mean that the edges of the board extend to both bark edges. There's
no more bark, but the contrasting beige sap wood about 3/4" wide runs
down both edges. I intend to keep the natural edge.

I'm looking for suggestions on finishing. Would a penetrating oil
finish(e.g watco) work on such a dense wood? The wood is deep red
with almost black streaks, and since oil tends to darken wood, would
oil "un" enhance these colors?

Is there any special treatment for bark edges?

I'll do some experimenting, but the would is pricey so there's not
many scraps.

Thanks,

Mitch

Consider sanding to 600 and then proceed as you would polishing a car.
You also might consider resawing to thin pieces and glue on to 3/4"
ply for your tabletop and save the remainder for other projects.

ROY!

Ditto on the 600 -- or even finer, up to 2,000 if you have a
Pep Boy's nearby. Cocobolo comes with its own oil finish,
and needs nothing beyond wet sanding with super fine grit
and maybe a coat of wax.

As for Watco, it'd probably make cocobolo look dull.

I put 6" x 36" strips of it in my floor in our last house to act as a visual
separation between the kitchen and living room, it was a wide open plan
after we remodeled.
I too used tung oil and then about once a year I would lightly scuff it with
0000 steel wool and add another light coat to freshen it.
It held up VERY well even with all of the traffic I got. It was such
beautiful wood. I'm a little jealous.

I still have a few tiny scraps around and I hope to use them for a special
project someday.

Kate

In article om, MB
wrote:

I have a cocobolo slab that will be a top for a sofa table. By "slab",
I mean that the edges of the board extend to both bark edges. There's
no more bark, but the contrasting beige sap wood about 3/4" wide runs
down both edges. I intend to keep the natural edge.

I'm looking for suggestions on finishing. Would a penetrating oil
finish(e.g watco) work on such a dense wood? The wood is deep red
with almost black streaks, and since oil tends to darken wood, would
oil "un" enhance these colors?

Is there any special treatment for bark edges?

I'll do some experimenting, but the would is pricey so there's not
many scraps.

Thanks,

Mitch


No way to do it. Way too much trouble. Toxic dust, too oily to be
joined, harvesting destroys the rainforests. Just send it to me, It'll
relieve you of your worries and guilt. Just to be a good sport, I'll
pay for shipping. :-)

--
Vince Heuring To email, remove the Vince.

On Sat, 03 Nov 2007 11:06:20 -0700, MB wrote:

I have a cocobolo slab that will be a top for a sofa table. By "slab",
I mean that the edges of the board extend to both bark edges. There's
no more bark, but the contrasting beige sap wood about 3/4" wide runs
down both edges. I intend to keep the natural edge.

I'm looking for suggestions on finishing. Would a penetrating oil
finish(e.g watco) work on such a dense wood? The wood is deep red
with almost black streaks, and since oil tends to darken wood, would
oil "un" enhance these colors?

Is there any special treatment for bark edges?

I'll do some experimenting, but the would is pricey so there's not
many scraps.

Thanks,

Mitch

How bout a turner confusing the issue??

I use a LOT of cocobolo, doing 3 huge goblets for a client right now..

Being an oily wood, I NEVER put a finish on it... Especially my normal Danish
Oil, because the wood is already oily..

I sand to the limit of my patience and buff it on a Beall system... Should be
able to do the same for a slab, right?

It buffs so damn well that you won't believe it, and the buffed carnauba wax
should be good protection against minor scratches and such..

I've been very happy with the buffing on natural edge bowls... the bark gets a
bit darker and picks up a low shine that's a nice contrast to the worm glow of
the buffed wood.. YMWV


mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

It buffs so damn well that you won't believe it, and the buffed carnauba wax
should be good protection against minor scratches and such..

On a visit to woodcraft, they had Briwax, Myland and Staples. The
labels on each can all said they leave a beautiful finish and are
preferred by craftsman for fine furniture and antiques. One said it
has beeswax, another says it does not have beeswax (inferring beeswax
is bad). So any suggestions? According to wikipedia, carnauba is a
very hard wax; which sounds like a good attribute. Of course who knows
how much carnauba the final product contains.

Thanks

Mitch

On Nov 4, 2:26 pm, MB wrote:
It buffs so damn well that you won't believe it, and the buffed carnauba wax
should be good protection against minor scratches and such..

On a visit to woodcraft, they had Briwax, Myland and Staples. The
labels on each can all said they leave a beautiful finish and are
preferred by craftsman for fine furniture and antiques. One said it
has beeswax, another says it does not have beeswax (inferring beeswax
is bad). So any suggestions? According to wikipedia, carnauba is a
very hard wax; which sounds like a good attribute. Of course who knows
how much carnauba the final product contains.

Beeswax is at the soft end of the scale, carnauba at the
other. Beeswax is added to carnauba to make it easier
to buff by hand, or if you let it dry too long. Go with as
much carnauba as you can, and tell anyone who
interrupts you to wait.

That said, I use Johnson's (carnauba) to polish the cocobolo
knobs on my planes after stripping off the lacquer. No other
finish. Two coats last forever and get nicer looking each time
I use the tools. Briwax is, IIRC, pure carnauba, rock hard,
and MUST be buffed within minutes of application, while
Myland's is mostly beeswax.

On Sun, 04 Nov 2007 11:26:47 -0800, MB wrote:



It buffs so damn well that you won't believe it, and the buffed carnauba wax
should be good protection against minor scratches and such..

On a visit to woodcraft, they had Briwax, Myland and Staples. The
labels on each can all said they leave a beautiful finish and are
preferred by craftsman for fine furniture and antiques. One said it
has beeswax, another says it does not have beeswax (inferring beeswax
is bad). So any suggestions? According to wikipedia, carnauba is a
very hard wax; which sounds like a good attribute. Of course who knows
how much carnauba the final product contains.

Thanks

Mitch

Mitch... my bad, I should have described the Beall system..

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.a...90,43040,43042

You buff with 3 wheels, 1st with tripoli to buff and remove scratches, then with
a softer wheel and white diamond, to clean the tripoli off and polish a bit,
then the final wheel, which is flannel and loaded with the wax..
How much wax you put on and what amount of buffing you do with/to the wax is up
to you..

Again, this is not a finish.. but it works for me..
I like the natural look of the wood and the warm glow that buffing gives,
opposed to the plastic shine from poly or tung oil, but that's why they make
paint in more than one color..lol



mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

On Mon, 05 Nov 2007 17:26:33 GMT, ROY! wrote:

On Mon, 05 Nov 2007 09:12:31 -0800, mac davis
wrote:


You buff with 3 wheels, 1st with tripoli to buff and remove scratches, then with
a softer wheel and white diamond, to clean the tripoli off and polish a bit,
then the final wheel, which is flannel and loaded with the wax..
How much wax you put on and what amount of buffing you do with/to the wax is up
to you..

Again, this is not a finish.. but it works for me..
I like the natural look of the wood and the warm glow that buffing gives,
opposed to the plastic shine from poly or tung oil, but that's why they make
paint in more than one color..lol
mac

Buffing a sofa table top with a Beall buff wheel would be one helluva
challenge!

Maybe, but what fun would/wood it be if it wasn't??

I buffed the display shelves and case that I built for my turnings... The
buffing wheels have 3/8" bolts through the cloth and I used my 1/2" drill driver
to get to the places that I couldn't bring over to my "buffing station"
(Old washing machine motor)



mac

Please remove splinters before emailing