Thread: Dead Finish

Bleached bones is the only finish acc to one account ;-}

Ed, well I have used to good effect friction polish such as Shellawax and to a lesser extent satin wipe-on-poly. A lot depends what you want in the way of gloss or not.
Have patience TTIT will be able to give a more definitive answer.

It's a dense acacia; it may have distinct stripes which an oil finish might pop nicely, but I'll shut up and wait for The Man.

I used Shellewax and was very pleased with result, polishes like glass

Dunno about 'definitive' but my preference is for oil - only takes a coat or 2 for a beautiful lustre if you have sanded to 1000# or so. Small pieces do come up great with Shellawax but the high gloss can hide some of the colour and the stripes that Ern mentioned

Pssst! Ern, it hasn't been an acacia for years mate - re-classifed to archidendropsis basaltica - unless it's western dead-finish whose timber is not at all similar

Hi Ed,
Where the hell are you getting your hands on some dead finish over there?
My preference is 10 coats of Rustins Danish Oil, even though I am usually a full gloss lacquer man,
regards,
Crocy.

You are a fortunate young phellough to have some Dead Fnish to work with!!

I've done some pens and just used Shellax. Glorious phinish!!

Just to remind folks of what you already know of course, S/wax is good for smaller pieces and DF, the bit I have from Vern and what I've seen outback, is small. Faceplate pieces over about 10cm, rule of thumb, is not good for S/wax. Go S/wax cream if you must.

..

Thanks for the heads-up on class'n Vern.

What I was looking at, outback last year around The Alice, as best I know along with one or two botanists, was A. tetragonophylla. So this is the Western 'variety' of Dead Finish? And not DF at all? Sigh. I'll go back to the shed now.

Well, lots of good advice guys,,,thanks. Will bear that in mind when I do the piece...and Ern, the bones were my first thought, but the damn cat won't let me get near enough.

Fortunate indeed Arthur...a chunk was sent to me by one of the guys on the forum. Only hope I don't screw it up as I'm kinda out of practice - haven't turned anything for about 6 months or so...should prolly take some wip pics just in case.

Heard two stories about the origin of the common name when I was outback.

One, it was the last bush standing in a drought.

Two, in a drought it was the last bush cattle would eat.

What I saw under that name had spiky 'leaves' and I sure wouldn't nibble on them in a rush!

Take your time with it Ed. Lock the cat out ;-}

Originally Posted by Ed Reiss

Well, lots of good advice guys,,,thanks. Will bear that in mind when I do the piece...and Ern, the bones were my first thought, but the damn cat won't let me get near enough.

Fortunate indeed Arthur...a chunk was sent to me by one of the guys on the forum. Only hope I don't screw it up as I'm kinda out of practice - haven't turned anything for about 6 months or so...should prolly take some wip pics just in case.

Ed, keep us informed on how you go, cause if you like it I may have some room in my port, and I have to go by your area next year, so you may be in luck,
regards,
Crocy.

Good deal Crocy...will be in touch

Originally Posted by rsser

What I was looking at, outback last year around The Alice, as best I know along with one or two botanists, was A. tetragonophylla. So this is the Western 'variety' of Dead Finish? And not DF at all? Sigh. I'll go back to the shed now.

hmmmm...now you've got me wondering Ern (which is not too hard to do!!!).
Here's some pics of the chunk...does it look like DF? ...and, yes, I see that it's labled Dead Finish on the end

Looks like Dead Finish to me but it is only a small bit & it has lots of sap wood.