Thread: why not use steel wool on wood ?

cause its really mean't for metal working or something like that

That sounds like something that probably came from me The don't use it bit is for use on RAW timber as a fine abrasive.

Using it as a tool for stripping as mentioned by Horsecroft88 above is fine and the accepted way of finishing off the stripping process, as the surface id then washed and sanded in preparation to accept stain, bleach, filler, shellac or whatever else. In this case there is no broken gown steel wool left in the timber to cause a problem.

Using it over shellac or another finish also isn't a problem. Where the problem comes in is when some people think they can get a better surface on their RAW timber by rubbing with steel wool. This is often a woodturning thing more than it is a problem with finishing flat surfaces.

Woodturners used to use it because it made the timber look great in a few seconds (hopefully most have learned different by now). For starters the steel wool stops cutting a few seconds into the work and begins to burnish the timber rather than cut it. If you wet the work down it will swell up because all the burnishing does is lay the fibres of the timber over. If the timber is green or has a high tannin content you will get reasonably swift, often disasterous marking on the face of the work and penetrating into the surface. Apart fron that it's dangerous on as lsthe and if caught in a chuck can easily skin, deglove or even worse cut off a finger.

It also has additives to stop it from rusting that can in some instances play havock with a finish. It will catch fire really easily and is very hard to extinguish. If you put it in a jar of shellac it will turn it black and ruin the polish.

Back to the main question. Steel wool has plenty of used in woodworking and restoration but not as a fine abrasive on raw timber.

One of the best uses my sons found for steel wool some 20 years ago was to tie a big hank of it to the end of a stick or rope in the black of night and light it with a match very easily done then swing it around in a big arc for an absolutely brilliant fire show. Make sure you have lots of land around and nothing within 50 metres that can catch fire.

Better still don't do it at all.

Cheers - Neil

Originally Posted by silentC

Seems to me that you are using coarse steel wool as a method of stripping old finish, not to impart smoothness to the raw wood, which is what is being asked about here. You are sanding the raw wood afterwards, and you would not do that if you were using steel wool to prepare the finished surface.

Originally Posted by silentC

That is why you should never use it on raw wood - unless you're going to sand it again, which defeats the purpose of using fine steel wool in the first place. Once you've applied shellac or whatever, there's no problem.

<style></style>However, my initial point was to dispute "...using steel wool is the only way to get the correct finish for antiques". It may be your preferred medium for your chosen course of action, but is neither the sole or universal method. There are a great many ways to finish an oiled, shellacked or waxed surface without resorting to steel wool.

FYI Horsecroft88, I've been a professional restorer of 17th and 18th century English and European furniture since 1977 and have taught restoration at a college in England. I can safely say; neither I nor any of my peers would ever remotely contemplate introducing steel wool to the raw wood of anything of importance.

Originally Posted by Neil

That sounds like something that probably came from me The don't use it bit is for use on RAW timber as a fine abrasive.

Using it as a tool for stripping as mentioned by Horsecroft88 above is fine and the accepted way of finishing off the stripping process, as the surface id then washed and sanded in preparation to accept stain, bleach, filler, shellac or whatever else. In this case there is no broken gown steel wool left in the timber to cause a problem.

Using it over shellac or another finish also isn't a problem. Where the problem comes in is when some people think they can get a better surface on their RAW timber by rubbing with steel wool. This is often a woodturning thing more than it is a problem with finishing flat surfaces.

Woodturners used to use it because it made the timber look great in a few seconds (hopefully most have learned different by now). For starters the steel wool stops cutting a few seconds into the work and begins to burnish the timber rather than cut it. If you wet the work down it will swell up because all the burnishing does is lay the fibres of the timber over. If the timber is green or has a high tannin content you will get reasonably swift, often disasterous marking on the face of the work and penetrating into the surface. Apart fron that it's dangerous on as lsthe and if caught in a chuck can easily skin, deglove or even worse cut off a finger.

It also has additives to stop it from rusting that can in some instances play havock with a finish. It will catch fire really easily and is very hard to extinguish. If you put it in a jar of shellac it will turn it black and ruin the polish.

Back to the main question. Steel wool has plenty of used in woodworking and restoration but not as a fine abrasive on raw timber.

One of the best uses my sons found for steel wool some 20 years ago was to tie a big hank of it to the end of a stick or rope in the black of night and light it with a match very easily done then swing it around in a big arc for an absolutely brilliant fire show. Make sure you have lots of land around and nothing within 50 metres that can catch fire.

Better still don't do it at all.

Cheers - Neil

What Neil said too - except I still maintain that when used for stripping timber bare, it's asking for trouble if the item is going to be clear-coated! It's probably not such a problem on joinery as Horsecroft88 is doing, but using steel wool to scrub furniture or anyting that is likely to bear close scrutiny should be avoided.

Adding to what Neil said about it being used on a lathe:

For a final sand on raw timber it is easily replaced by EEE on a cloth wad. Still prone to catching and flailing around the lathe, but with far less disastrous consequences for fingers.

I do occasionally use 0000 wool for wet-sanding a flood finish of Danish, (for example) as sand-paper tends to take off the crispness of detail whereas the wool will conform better to the profile.

But never on raw timber... those previously mentioned black spots from caught particles are just downright ugly.

the only good steel wool i have found in 0000 is from liberon but i am now using webrax as it lasts longer , does'nt fall apart and you can hit it with a compressor to clean it . I am getting mine from carrolls www.cws.au.com