Finishing Desert Iron Wood

[wolf creek knives]

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.

 

[KMCloonan]

I have made Desert Ironwood pens with my regular CA finish with no problems. I am not sure about WOP though.

 

[jcm71]

I have made Desert Ironwood pens with my regular CA finish with no problems. I am not sure about WOP though.

Same here. DIW takes a beautiful CA finish.

 

[d_bondi]

Same here. DIW takes a beautiful CA finish.

Me three... Just clean it with DNA or Mineral Spirits or some solvent first to get rid of as much of the surface oils as possible first so that it will adhere better.

 

[Dalecamino]

No reason you can't use WOP. I wipe the blanks with either Denatured Alcohol, or Acetone first to remove oil. My finish is CA, but WOP will work if that's your preference. If it doesn't I'll take it off your hands.

 

[XanderPen]

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.

 

[wolf creek knives]

The Ironwood I get is desert Ironwood. I think it comes from arizona and it's pretty expensive.

 

[XanderPen]

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.

 

[Pierre---]

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 !

 

[RunnerVince]

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 !

I might have to try that next time I do something with ironwood. The last thing I did was a shave brush that lives in the bathroom, so I'm not sure that would be the best way to go for that application, but items that don't live in the high-humidity environment, I love the sheen you got.