EEE as a finish

[PAH1]

Another thread was complaining about there being a lack of threads, so here goes.

Last night I was at a local woodwork meeting and EEE was being recomended as a "satin" finish all by itself. Now I have a jar of EEE and love the stuff to bits, but it says rather clearly in the instructions that it is not a finish in itself.

Do other people use it like this or is this person on the wrong track? Does Neil not recomend it as a finish because it is a wax and dulls and needs polishing and touching up with time?

Let me know your thoughts on the subject


Peter

[Cliff Rogers]

G'day.

Quoted straight from the web page....
EEE - Ultra Shine is a cut and polish paste wax containing Tripoli powder (also known in Australia as Rotten Stone) an ultra fine abrasive. The polish is designed to be used in conjunction with Shellawax Cream & liquid or as a finish in its own right on plastics and some stone.
end quote.

[PAH1]

G'day.

as a finish in its own right on plastics and some stone.
end quote.

True but this was on turned bowls.

[Christopha]

EEE is NOT a finish in its' own right on raw timber..... it is an abrasive product! The only reason for the wax content in EEE is as a vehicle to get the grit onto ther suface of the work. If a bowl (in your case) has been finished witha lacquer or similar then EEE can certainly be used to 'cut' the finish of the lacquer in the same way one would use cutting compound on the paintwork of your car. If someone has told you that EEE is a finish on raw timber then gently suggest that "Christopha The EEE Demonstrator" says he is a bloody idjit and if he doesn't want to use the wondrous Shellawax as his finish and still wants a wax finish then "UBeaut Traditional Wax" is the go...... it is the wax base that the tripoli powder is in to make EEE.

[PAH1]

EEE is NOT a finish in its' own right on raw timber..... it is an abrasive product! The only reason for the wax content in EEE is as a vehicle to get the grit onto ther suface of the work. If a bowl (in your case) has been finished witha lacquer or similar then EEE can certainly be used to 'cut' the finish of the lacquer in the same way one would use cutting compound on the paintwork of your car. If someone has told you that EEE is a finish on raw timber then gently suggest that "Christopha The EEE Demonstrator" says he is a bloody idjit and if he doesn't want to use the wondrous Shellawax as his finish and still wants a wax finish then "UBeaut Traditional Wax" is the go...... it is the wax base that the tripoli powder is in to make EEE.

Oh boy where to start on that lot.

He does use shellawax, he just mentioned as an aside that he frequently use EEE alone when he wanted a satin finish on a raw timber bowl. I think the point of his statement was that he wanted it to satin off with time. Personally it is not the sort of thing that I would do as I do not like that sort of finish, I also think that it would not be that durable either in use or aesthetically, but that was the point of the question. Do other people do it and what have their experiences been?

PS I am an experimental scientist, if I only followed what was "gospel" I would never get anything done!!!

[silentC]

I suppose the point is that once you've hit it with the EEE it looks pretty good and you might be tempted to think that it will stay that way but it clearly wont. It's really just a very fine form of sanding and although raw timber can look pretty good after sanding, it wont stay that way for long if you handle it. I think the same applies. It's not really putting much of a coating on the timber, even though it does contain wax.