Best way to finish Cocobolo

[Brooks803]

I'm new to the game of pen turning and have heard that certain hardwoods such as cocobolo and ebony are somewhat difficult to finish. Any help hints or tips would be greatly helpful!!

 

[tim self]

I only use a CA finish on every wood pen to take this as my .02. If you are gonna use CA on cocobolo, rosewood, ebony, ie. oily woods, wipe with acetone or accellerator on the blank first. Let completely gas off and then apply a coat of CA. Apply as many coats as you wish but remember, DO NOT heat the blank to much while sanding as this will bring the deeper oils to the surface and cause seperation.

 

[DennisM]

I will have to dig up some of my pictures of the cocobolo slimlines I did, I am really new to it and those were some of my first ones. I only used BLO/CA.

I would do a initial coat of BLO and lightly buff it in, then 5 coats of ca, 2000grit light sand, two more blow and then 3-4 more CA. No real reason other then they came out really nice that way, and when I would do it without the blow inbetween, the luster wouldnt be the same..

 

[Sylvanite]

Cocobolo is a good candidate for "bare polished wood", a.k.a. no finish. It develops a lustruous sheen all on its own.

On the other hand, if you are at all concerned about allergic reactions (although those are typically to the dust, not the wood), you can put a CA finish on it. CA goes on better if you wipe the wood down with CA Accelerator immediately before application. That strips surface oil and helps the CA adhere better.

I hope that helps,
Eric

 

[THarvey]

I only use a CA finish on every wood pen to take this as my .02. If you are gonna use CA on cocobolo, rosewood, ebony, ie. oily woods, wipe with acetone or accellerator on the blank first. Let completely gas off and then apply a coat of CA. Apply as many coats as you wish but remember, DO NOT heat the blank to much while sanding as this will bring the deeper oils to the surface and cause seperation.

I wet sand, to keep the heat down.

 

[junosdad]

another option

Enduro has worked well for me.

 

[bobaltig]

Jonathan: I don't really put a finish on cocobolo (one of my favorite woods). I sand to about 400 grit, then micromesh up to 4000 grit. Then it's over to the buffing wheels. Buff with EEE, White Diamond and then Carnuba. You'll get a nice smooth yet tactile feel to the wood, and the wood will darken to a beautiful dark orange color with exposure to UV rays.

Bob

I'm new to the game of pen turning and have heard that certain hardwoods such as cocobolo and ebony are somewhat difficult to finish. Any help hints or tips would be greatly helpful!!

 

[pipecrafter]

I never use an applied finish on cocobolo, though I have used danish oil on knife handles. I think certain woods like cocobolo, african blackwood, all the rosewoods in fact, just look better without a shiny finish.