Matt said:
Just a quick question, my dear experienced restorers, as I see it, Torben first applied CA to the wood (which was finishing as I understood this). But then there was this:
rayman said:
Now you can fit and glue the wedge in place. (...). Now you can start to apply the finish to the scales
So you apply finish twice, or am I missing something, Sirs?
kind regards,
Matt
There is a normal progression when working with wood from a clean sanded surface to a final smooth well protected finished surface. Most everyone is of the opinion that just applying CA or varnish is the end of it. Don't let that fool you though, the classic look and feel of the finish product starts long before you run your finger across the wood and go 'oh wow!'.
There are basically 4 steps to that final finish you are looking for: staining, sealing, finishing and polishing. All of these have their own special rules to follow, and like honing, not paying attention to one of these operations closely will show up dramatically in the finished product. For instance: If you decide to use a stain to enhance the grain in your wood, the sealer that us used behind it MUST be water based if the stain was oil based and oil based if the stain was water based. Other wise the sealer would lift the grain and dilute and remove most of the stain.
In the case of these scales, Torben has chosen not to stain them but has sealed them with CA. He has also sanded the surface between several coats. At this point, he needs to closely inspect the surface and make sure there are absolutly no scratches visible. If there are, he can sand the surface with say 320 paper and a small dab of varnish. Let that dry completely and then sand that smooth to 2000k. Again, if there is no indication of scratches then, he can put on his final finish or go back and repeat the sandpaper and varnish trick.
If in this case he is ready for the final finish, he has a choice. First, he could simply continue to use the CA and use that as his final finish. When he is done, polish with a very fine automotive detail wax. He could also at this point apply a different finish like Shellac, Varnish or Laquer. Varnish would be the most durable of the three and only several coats would be needed to produce a nice finish. After that, a couple coats of good furniture wax, let it dry and hand polish.
Hope that answers your question.
Ray
