Thread: WIP - Blackwood, Silky Oak, ebony inlay

I used to use good old danish oil for my boxes when I first started. Pretty easy to apply, just wipe on and then wipe off the excess after a short while. I now use kunos livos oil and it's my finish of choice for boxes.

It's also much easier if you pre finish the inside of your boxes before gluing up, it'll save you time and effort later on.

Hi Fumbler,

i hear great things about Livos oil but have never used it. For an oil finish I either use Osmo PolyX as I did on this walnut box. One generous coat wiped on, left for 15 minutes, wiped off with a clean rag, left overnight. Process repeated the next day, then on day 3 waxed with Liberon Black Bison. Important to wipe off each coat fully before it becomes sticky.

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I also use Tru-Oil, wiped on thinly and left on. One coat per day for 3 days then wax:

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Mostly, though, I use hard shellac because I like the control I have over the degree of shine. This box is only part finished (hard maple and birdseye maple) but you can see that the colour is largely unaffected by the shellac. This is the INSIDE of the top panel, hence the inlay banding not being around the edge:

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Happy finishing,

Brian

[QUOTE=homey;2044525]Hi Fumbler,

i hear great things about Livos oil but have never used it. For an oil finish I either use Osmo PolyX as I did on this walnut box. One generous coat wiped on, left for 15 minutes, wiped off with a clean rag, left overnight. Process repeated the next day, then on day 3 waxed with Liberon Black Bison. Important to wipe off each coat fully before it becomes sticky.

IMG_3423.JPG

I also use Tru-Oil, wiped on thinly and left on. One coat per day for 3 days then wax:

IMG_3432.JPG

IMG_3431.JPG

Hi Brian,

How are you applying the hard shellac? that is a great finish.

Regards
Keith

Brian, I noticed in the top photo you book leafed the lid, is that a veneer or a book leafed panel? I have book leafed a silky oak panel nearly 5mm thick and was wondering if mine needs a support panel glued underneath to add strength? Heaven forbid it should split or seperate after I set it in.

Very pretty! Really shines and looks special.

You might find this an interesting read.

Regards,

Rob

Pedro - I'll try to put up a couple of pics in the next day or two, but essentially I pad it on in the french polishing style. I think there is much unwarranted mystique around fp, but as I say, I'll put up some pics shortly.

Hi Fumbler - the walnut box and the birdseye maple (the bottom pic) are both veneers on marine ply. I've never bookmatched a 5mm thick panel. I'd be a bit concerned about potential cross-grain expansion but I'm really not experienced enough with thicker panels to make any useful comment. I'd be very interested to hear from other forum members on this.

Rob (LGS) - thanks, I read that thread with great interest. You went to a lot of trouble to do the testing. Finishing is my weak point and there is much rubbish talked about this subject so I'm always grateful when someone takes the time to do some real investigation. I'm also a bit of a fan of Bob Flexner, particularly his book 'Flexner on Finishing'.

Poly and I don't seem to like each other. My fault entirely - I just get impatient with something that take many hours to be touch dry and is then covered in dust unless you happened to be applying it in the sterile environment of an orbiting space station. I find shellac so simple to apply (using a rubber) that I almost look forward to finishing. If you tell anyone that I'll deny it absolutely!

Thanks again,

Brian

Beautiful boxes.

And we read the same books (or book to be more precise)! I can't claim to be able to make such beautiful pieces as yourself though.

I've done tests with Haymes Danish Oil and Watco Danish Oil, both are flood on, leave for X minutes, wipe off, then let dry. The Haymes does say to sand with a high grit before the next coat, it seems to have a film forming resin (but not as much as wipe on poly) that might provide a little bit of protection to the material. Both oils do have a yellow cast to them, I find it gives darker woods a lot more character but with blonde or white woods it adds too much yellow, for my taste. Very similar coloration and personally I don't find much to separate them. Easy to apply either and they give a nice matt-ish finish.

I used water based poly for my most recent project as the white oak was pickled with latex paint and I didn't want to risk the meths in shellac softening and lifting up the paint. The water based poly is far from easy to apply with a brush and is ideally done with a spray gun. It dries pretty fast (but I still had an annoying number of dust nibs, probably because my garage is pretty bad at the moment. Color wise though, there was a little darkening of the wood but no 'yellow' color change, pretty much exactly what I was going for.

I trimmed the lid yesterday and just need a fine sand to fit snug. It's not pressed in all the way otherwise I won't get it out to glue it in. Unfortunately I couldn't find a price to book match with better grain flow. It looks pretty boring as is.

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Hi Fumbler,

I understand what you're saying, although it looks fine to me. The finishing will enhance the look anyway and the combination of dark blackwood with silky oak should give a good contrast.

If you're really unhappy with the look you could add a feature to the top such as a small diamond-shaped piece of blackwood in the centre to give a visual link to the sides. Or cut in a small 'frame' of the ebony inlay (a smaller version of the inside maple panel in one of my pictures above). Or buy a small marquetry panel from somewhere like Timbecon to cut into the top - a 28mm panel perhaps? https://www.timbecon.com.au/wooden-parts?page=3 If you go this route I'd recommend avoiding curved edges - they are so easy to stuff up. Ask me how I know!


Look forward to seeing the finished box, and thanks for sharing the build.

Brian

Just taped up ready for inserting the lid. The lower tray (which is fixed) hasn't been glued yet. plus a couple of pics of the trays

Hi Fumbler,

Looking good. Why is the bottom tray fixed? Is it just as a 'shelf support' for the upper tray?

Brian

Yes, I don't suppose I actually have to fix it,but I wanted it snug to look good. The base of the bottom tray will be lined also. But in reality, it doesn't need to come out as nothing to see below.

everything is sanded inside so just need to coat the inside with finish after slicing off the lid.

The lid is in, and sanded, ready for splines, both trays are framed and set and ready for splines also. Now trying to figure the best pattern for the top tray.

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Then em comes the all important seperating the lid and oiling. Then fitting the hinges (my favourite part, NOT)