I just finished making my lathe,and turned my first reel seat insert. I am experimenting with different ways to final sand and polish. I bought my insert blanks from reelseatblanks.com while at the expo. The first time I just stepped down sandpaper until I hit 3000 grit 3M Trizact(think car painter here) then used 3M compound to bring up the shine. The next attempt I sanded even finer with Mirka Abralon 4000 grit, followed by various fingernail buffers. Both results were similar, and I actually preferred the latter method. Question is just how "slick" can this stabilized wood be polished? I'm looking for that wet look like an old hand rubbed lacquer paint job. Can I get that kind of depth, seeing how this surface is a lot more porous and irregular than the urethane paint I use at work. I've heard of micomesh and I know it's available in grits as fine as 12000. Is it worth the money? I'll try to post pics tomorrow.

Even though the wood is stabilized to get the depth you desire you will have to put a finish of some type on the insert. There are many different ways to finish inserts. My favorites are using Tru Oil or spraying them with a 2K urethane clear. Tru Oil is a gun stock finish that is basically a wipe on wipe off type application. Takes a few coats to get a build up but it give the wood a nice look. For the 2K urethane, I apply a coat of shellac first. Mostly blond but sometimes I use the darker stuff to achieve a different look. The shellac really makes the sometimes lifeless stabilized wood come alive. After the shellac has dried I spray the clear. Two coats usually does it.

Lane

Is this a auto 2K urethane clear Got a brand name you use
Thanks

Bill - willierods.com

Yes it's automotive. I use pretty much any brand. Depends on which paint shop I'm near when I'm out and about. I use mid temp stuff from Dupont, PPG, and Kustom Kolor mostly. The high dollar stuff from Dupont and PPG isn't necessary, we aren't painting Lambos here.

Lane

You can acheive the deep high gloss your looking for by sanding the wood to 66o grit, the applying 4 or 5 coats of Tru Oil (follow instructions re drying time) then wet sand with increasing grits of Micr Mesh to 12000 grit.

I will often use a CA finish on the stabilized wood. Then sand with a 400 dry followed by 800 wet, 1500 wet and 2000 wet. I then toss on the lathe and hit with HUT polishing compound. Looks like glass, dones not take long and I do not have all kinds of money tied up in micro mesh and the like.

What about Permagloss or LumiSeal. Several coats let cure wet sand then polish

Bill - willierods.com

I have been getting fantastic results on unstabilized wood with polyurethane varnish or spar urethane. Sand to 400 grit, or finer, and seal with Sealcoat (dewaxed shellac). Use waterbase poly for a clear finish or regular solvent based poly (thinned 60/40) if some amber tint is permissible. The spar gives an even deeper tint. Dip the reel seat in the finish and let dry for a day suspended in a vertical position. Sand between coats with 600 grit paper. The required 6 or 8 ccoats is time consuming, but the glass like results make it worthwhile.

Gerald, is right on. If you are looking for a "deep" finsih dipping is the way to go.

I only sand my "dipped" pieces to 220 to allow for some open grain and a little better depth when finished (my opinion) then,
I have found that dipping the handle or seat then suspending on a mono line works well.
I take that mono line and loop it over a mandrel and place the thing into a clean 5gal bucket so the piece can drip without issue and being iside the bucket keeps unwanted debis from ending up on my finish. For the unstablizided wood I have done this way in many cases I have not even needed to go back and buff them. If I want to control further I put a bucket lid on 1/2 way.
I finsihed a section of cherry burl a few weeks back and it looks a mile deep after 3 dips in a unthined spar. The only trick is to either wick away the drips on the bottem or like I was able to do, have the drips go toward the area hidden by the handle.

If using for a reelseat take into account that 3-6 dips of finish will increase the diamiter of the piece by a fair amount.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/18/2011 12:06PM by Eric Viburs.