Cloudy appearance when finishing shellac with steel wool / paste wax
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Tagged: shellac wax finishing
- This topic has 9 replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 4 years, 10 months ago by Ed.
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25 May 2019 at 7:01 pm #575214
I hate the look of a glossy finish, but since shellac is glossy by default, I thought to use steel wool to cut off the nibs and then steel wool plus some paste wax to take the gloss down to a satin sheen. At least that is what I understood Paul was doing in his two videos on finishing with shellac. Problem is that whenever I touch my shellac with steel wool (lubricated or not, paste wax or not) it immediately cloudies (dulls) the surface. Now I expect a satin sheen to be cloudy if the light reflects off it straight overhead, but when compared to unfinished shellac side by side under the same lighting condition, the gloss shellac is much clearer, contrast is higher and colours are punchier.
How can I achieve the same clarity as the unfinished gloss shellac but still get the smooth, satin surface?
The first image shows the one half of the edge of wenge after I used steel wool with mineral spirits, then 600 grit sandpaper with mineral spirits, then 1200 then 2500.
The second image shows the first image followed by applying paste wax with steel wool and buffing it out. Compared to the unfinished glossy shellac on the left half I am losing a lot of clarity and contrast.
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You must be logged in to view attached files.25 May 2019 at 10:21 pm #575262I cannot help but think you are scuffing the surface with the steel wool it is nowhere near 2500 grit ,I think you are going backwards with your finish..
26 May 2019 at 1:26 am #575304So assuming I already scrubbed all surfaces with steel wool, how do I get a smoother, non cloudy finish?
26 May 2019 at 2:58 am #575322thats tough to say when you finish with 2500 grit. thats polishing in my opinion anything you do to it after, under that level will just scratch . going that fine, buffing and a different finish like a semi gloss over coat sounds like a good way to head.
I can get a satin finish with 220 and 4 ought steel wool and paste wax. above that i have not done ,26 May 2019 at 4:36 am #575340I don’t really care for 1200 or 2500 – the results look the same to me if I rub with 0000 steel wool and use paste wax or rub with steel wool followed by 600 sandpaper and then paste wax… Am I expecting too much from a satin finish?
- This reply was modified 4 years, 11 months ago by Waldo Nell.
26 May 2019 at 5:14 pm #575473You have got me there. I can get a duller shine using courser paper to start and quit at 240-320 but i never have gone so high then tried to satin it up. Sorry
See if these help you with the basic ideas. These won’t show you how to do this by hand, but they’ll convey the notion of grit vs. sheen, the need for enough build, and the need for curing. I confess to chickening out on learning to rub out finishes. I’ve yet to see a believable demonstration for how to rub out to satin or semigloss when there are details like edge profiles, mouldings, etc. So, I rely on finishes with flatting agents instead, but I really want to learn how to rub out theses more complicated things.
I’ve studied with Charles at his shop. His methods work, the information is reliable, but the methods do tend to come from a production environment, so they can be hard to figure out how to use in a small shop.
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