I made a table top from cocobolo. Based on recent suggestions in this
group and some experimenting i decided to sand to 1000 grit then apply
paste wax. Well, I got thru the sanding and now I want to apply the
wax (it looks beautiful even without wax. I could never have imagined
that wood could look and feel this smooth just by sanding).

Anyway, I have a few scraps and was experimenting with waxing, but no
matter what I try, the sheen is very uneven. Some spots are shiny some
less so. It follows the pattern of the application as if some spots
got more wax tt than others.

I've tried more and less wax on the applicator, I've tried a damp
applicator, I've tried waiting for it to dry 10 and 20 minutes -
nothing helps. The best results so far is to use a damp applicator and
sort of apply then rub it off without letting it dry. But it's still
not great.

I've tried two brands: and old can of "Bowling alley wax" and a can of
"Staples" (from woodcraft)

Any tips?

Thanks,

Mitch

I typically use Briwax. I've used Johnsons and soem others but the
bulk of my experience is with Briwax.

I use 0000 steel wool. The wax coems thinned in the can so it is
really loose, almost soupy. The use Naptha, it dries real fast. I dap
just a little of the wet on the steel wool, do circular motions maybe
a 6" square at a time. Try to get the wax as thin as possible.

After it hazes over in 5-10 minutes then buff the heck out of it with
terry cloth or other rough material. You have to heat it enough when
you buff it to get it to actually melt as it is removed and buffed. I
use an electric buffer on big areas.

On Nov 20, 7:20 pm, MB wrote:
I made a table top from cocobolo. Based on recent suggestions in this
group and some experimenting i decided to sand to 1000 grit then apply
paste wax. Well, I got thru the sanding and now I want to apply the
wax (it looks beautiful even without wax. I could never have imagined
that wood could look and feel this smooth just by sanding).

Anyway, I have a few scraps and was experimenting with waxing, but no
matter what I try, the sheen is very uneven. Some spots are shiny some
less so. It follows the pattern of the application as if some spots
got more wax tt than others.

I've tried more and less wax on the applicator, I've tried a damp
applicator, I've tried waiting for it to dry 10 and 20 minutes -
nothing helps. The best results so far is to use a damp applicator and
sort of apply then rub it off without letting it dry. But it's still
not great.

I've tried two brands: and old can of "Bowling alley wax" and a can of
"Staples" (from woodcraft)

Any tips?

Thanks,

Mitch

On Nov 20, 9:20 pm, MB wrote:

Anyway, I have a few scraps and was experimenting with waxing, but no
matter what I try, the sheen is very uneven. Some spots are shiny some
less so. It follows the pattern of the application as if some spots
got more wax tt than others.

Could well your wood. When waxing your wood... uhhhh wait.... that's
another group....

Cocobolo is highly prized as a woodturning medium by everyone that has
ever turned it. It is close grained, hard, but not brittle, and will
really finish up nice. It is the opinion of many that these fine
attributes are the result of all the oil in the wood. I made a lot of
pens and Christmas ornaments with this stuff when I could get it, but
it is too rich for me now. But others in the woodturning club made
large bowls (from $250 blanks!) and some made other things that were
of some size.

Finishing that wood can be problematic, no matter what finish you
choose. There will be spots that have more oil than others, and that
will make your finish spotty. The trick is to flash off as much of
the surface oil as possible so that the finish you apply can actually
dry out, and not be contaminated by oils in the process. That is what
makes the finish uneven. The oil also holds a lot of sanding dust,
and if you sanded to the super high grits you are talking about there
will almost certainly be a great deal of oily dust ground into the
pores of the wood. If you used power sanding, guaranteed you will
have a dirty surface.

I found the best way to adhere a finish to Cocobolo was to not sand
past 320 (sorry, but I usually don't go past 220 anyway...). Take a
clean Tshirt type rag and clean (scrub) the wood with the rag soaked
in laquer thinner. I settled on lacquer thinner as it was hotter than
mineral spirits, etc, which just seemed like they didn't take any
excess oil off. Lacquer thinner was hot enough (high VOCs) that it
was able to dissolve and remove the excess oils. I'll bet if you
clean your table top with a lacquer thinner soaded rag, you will see a
marked difference in the sheen of the wood, not to mention some really
brown tinged rags. The reduced sheen will tell you that you have
removed some of the surface oil and in the meantime have removed the
dust in the pores.

I have finished with Carnuba wax after doing that. (Keep in mind, I
am not doing anything as large as a table top!)

BUT...

For that perfect sheen, I would probably take some Zinseer sanding
sealer and cut it by 50% and quickly wipe down the surface with a spit
coat. Sand very lightly with 400 (since you are looking for a super
smooth surface) and check out the surface. If it wasn't uniform, I
would do it again. When the sheen and appearance was where I wanted
it, I would wax the top. I tried this on my lathe projects and it
worked great.

Wax alone doesn't work well with really oily woods, in my experience.
Since wax is not meant to be a penetrating finish, it seems to just
lay on top of the oily woods. And the greener the wood is, the worse
this will be. The problem is knowing how green one of those oily
tropicals actualy is, and how much difference that makes when
finishing.

As always, YMMV.

Robert

Sanding that fine, is it possible you burnished the wood unevenly? That
would lead to spotty sheen.

jc

Not sure about any problems with oily woods, which a previous poster
covered succintly, but I do know a good tip for even application of
wax. Get a nice old, well worn, t-shirt/rag and cut a foot square
piece out of it. Take lump of your intended wax and put it in the
middle of the squared. Twist up the wax inside the rag, just like you
were making a rubber for French polishing, so you have a ball of wax
inside the cloth. Rub the ball onto the surface you want to polish. A
little bit of hand pressure will extrude the wax out the cloth and you
will have total control of the amount of wax being deposited on the
surface. I always found waxing to be drudgery until I discovered that
it's easy so long as you are laying down the absolute minimum amount
of wax.

Also, forget about any mutiple coat, every-day-for-a-week, every-week-
for-a-month,every month for a year malarkey. Wax doesn't penetrate
wood or finishes and any subsequent coats dissolve the previous coat,
undoing all of your work.

Not sure about any problems with oily woods, which a previous poster
covered succintly, but I do know a good tip for even application of
wax. Get a nice old, well worn, t-shirt/rag and cut a foot square
piece out of it. Take lump of your intended wax and put it in the
middle of the squared. Twist up the wax inside the rag, just like you
were making a rubber for French polishing, so you have a ball of wax
inside the cloth. Rub the ball onto the surface you want to polish. A
little bit of hand pressure will extrude the wax out the cloth and you
will have total control of the amount of wax being deposited on the
surface. I always found waxing to be drudgery until I discovered that
it's easy so long as you are laying down the absolute minimum amount
of wax.

Also, forget about any mutiple coat, every-day-for-a-week, every-week-
for-a-month,every month for a year malarkey. Wax doesn't penetrate
wood or finishes and any subsequent coats dissolve the previous coat,
undoing all of your work.