Finishing Desert Iron Wood

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I'm making a couple of pens using Desert Iron Wood. My normal finish on both pens and other turned items is multiple coats of Wipe on Poly (WOP). Is WOP okay to use for finishing as this wood seems to be quite oily. Any ideas on finishing techniques would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.
 
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XanderPen

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Mar 10, 2024
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Thailand
I'm making a couple of pens using Desert Iron Wood. My normal finish on both pens and other turned items is multiple coats of Wipe on Poly (WOP). Is WOP okay to use for finishing as this wood seems to be quite oily. Any ideas on finishing techniques would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.
My brother in law makes snooker cues out of iron wood. You really want to finish those with dozenS of light coats of spray laquer. But before all that you need to sand it to 800 clean with ethanol between grits.. maybe the translation is not working; but you say iron wood. That is mainly used for tool handles (at least here).. it is an extremely undesirable wood and nasty to work with. In fact, I made a work bench top from siam iron wood; it just sits in my garage because it gives me a rash if I touch it.
 

XanderPen

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Mar 10, 2024
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Thailand
The Ironwood I get is desert Ironwood. I think it comes from arizona and it's pretty expensive.
It is pretty expensive here as well. I am not sure if we are talking about the same thing; the "Siam Ironwood" is nasty stuff, first time I messed with it I got a splinter that was like a broken syringe in my hand. It looks good; and it can be sanded to a mirror finish; but on a lathe its like a bundle of needles.
 

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Pierre---

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France
I never put anything on desert ironwood. I sand it with water up to 2000 grit or more, then I use polishing compound with buffing wheels.

I don't say it is the best way, it just depends of what you want. With any finishing product, the best result is seen the day of application, then it goes less nice with time. But with nothing else than a meticulous sanding and polishing, the wood is so hard that the sheen will be nice the first day, and will be better and better with use, like the unvarnished handle of an old tool. You can see the result of this method here.

Your choice. Choisis ton camp camarade !
 
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