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What are you using to apply varnish when
rubbing on varnish? I read somewhere to
use a coffee filter but it created a mess
of lint on the rod. I've been luckiest
with an all polyester fabric. What's your
secret for the near glass coat (aside from
a dipping tube)?
Try a sponge applicator. It won't leave brush marks. Also use more than one coat with very light sanding between coats. Be sure to tack cloth after sanding or steel wooling. Use light coats of varnish. The second or third coat of varnish will look like glass. This method in lieu of dipping.
Good luck
Try applying the first few coats with your fingertips.
Don't know how it would work for refinishing a rod, but when I varnish furniture pieces I use a badger hair brush. They are expensive, but properly cared for, last a long time. They leave a glass like finish with no brush marks.
REE
I like the idea of using sponge, finger and
currently do sand lightly in between. Have tried the brush technique with a fine brush but still lines/strokes.
I recall that DLEO sands (2000 grit?) after application and then gives it a final wax polish (brand?). Have you guys seen some of his work? Amazing.
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God Blesses!
A wing & a Prayer! ----*<(((><~ ~ ~ ~
Quinn
[This message has been edited by Wednesday Caster (edited 15 March 2006).]
[This message has been edited by Wednesday Caster (edited 15 March 2006).]
Don't know about Dleo, but in Wayne Cattanach's book he says he uses a wax he makes up. Here's the formula.
Wayne's Microwave Rod Wax
1/8 Ounce Beeswax
3/4 Ounce Lemon Oil
1 Plastic 35 mm Film Canister
1 round wood toothpick
Place the beeswax and lemon oil in the film canister and nuke on high for 5 minutes until the beeswax is dissolved, Stir after two or three minutes. Stir the mix for one minute then let it cool. Cap the container and keep it with your rods, along with a piece of cotton flannel. Gives the rod a nice luster and a great lemony smell. He says the wax has a consistancy of soft fly floatant.
I use a similar mixture on wood furniture that I build. Good stuff.
REE
[This message has been edited by NoahsBoyz (edited 15 March 2006).]
hey guys, I actually built a dip tank because number one, it is so much faster in getting to that glass finish, and #2, its was just too easy. If you are going to hand rub the finish on, you can get a really nice finish with a lot of elbow grease....
hand rub 2 or 3 good base coats on then buff lightly with steel wool, then reapply until you got see the finish starting to build up with no voids. let it cure several days. It takes varnish a good 30 days to really cure hard enough to work unless you have a drying cabinet. After it is cured...WET sand with 2000 or 2500 grit automotive grade or jewelers grade sandpaper. then use a turtle wax swirl and grind remover compound to get the lustre back, followed by a buffing with 3M's Finesse-it III, and finish it off with either Waynes wax or find some of the TownTalk Orange wax, that stuff is killer....
Noahzboyz,
I think that rod wax is for regular maintenance of the shine. I am looking for the initial application of the varnish. Thank you still.
DLeo,
Thanks again for letting out some professional secrets.
Quinn
------------------
God Blesses!
A wing & a Prayer! ----*<(((><~ ~ ~ ~
Quinn
[This message has been edited by Wednesday Caster (edited 15 March 2006).]
I also use a dip tube, easy and nice finish. But I am now rubbing in a urethane varnish on a pair of cherry burl reel seats. Started w/ 3 coats , one a day, of boiled linseed oil. Then using Minwax gloss 50/50 w/ thinner, I rub on a coat again one a day. Using a clean piece of old t-shirt I lay it on heavy and rub it out thin. 0000 steel wool the next day and repeat. Rub on finishes are by nature THIN coats built up slowly over time. It is the best solution for the cherry burl , since it has numerous tiny pits. By using the rub on method I am able to fill those pits, one tiny layer at a time , and the daily steel wool application prevents a heavy build up of varnish on the rest of the seat. When the last coat is done and the seats are smooth I expect to rub it out w/ rottenstone and oil and wax w/ Butchers.
AgMD
Thanks Quinn, but farrr away from professional. the pro's have it down pat and it's them sharing their secrets on forums like this that help me to improve my skills. The real pros, Ron Kusse, Walt Carpenters, Allen Thramers, Rich Margiotta's, Mike Brooks, Matt Loomis, people like that, are eager to help hobbyists like me and I don't mind sharing what I have learned from them.
AgMD - do you stabilize your inserts? I got some stuff from Mike Brooks a couple of years ago that is used for impregnating bamboo and I found out that it works GREAT on inserts, jsut takes a while for it to cure. I like the handrubbed appearance of inserts. I got one from Mike McFarland for that glass rod that I just built and it looked like glass. Going to try your hand rubbed method, sounds like a pretty solid process.
[This message has been edited by dleo6446 (edited 16 March 2006).]
It have used paper towels to wipe on varnish, works well. For wraps, I tear off a narrow corner strip, dip the end and twirl the rod until the wrap is covered, if to much overlap, then wipe off with a dry piece of paper towel. Once the wraps have enough coats to cover the threads, I then use a larger pice of paper towel to cover two flats and rub on varnish. For varnish i have been using Ace Hardware Spar straight ou of the can. Scuff lightly between coats with 0000 steal wool. Once I'm satisfied with the vernish job, rub lightly with 0000 steal wool to knock of and dust blems, rub out with MaGuires Light Duty scratch remover compound. Then a couple of coats of Butchers Bowling Alley Wax.
Gives the rod a classic look, not high gloss glassy looking.
Pete
No, I was gonna have them stabilized but just for the heck of it I thought I would try to turn them w/o. I turned them on a Sherline metal lathe and turned them like they were metal -- small cuts. I first center bored the squares with a spur bit --feeding easy and clearing the chips frequently, clipped the corners a bit on a shaper table and turned them on a mandrel made from a 5/16 -24 threaded rod shimmed w/ one turn of masking tape. I double nutted the ends and mounted it between a 3 jaw chuck and dead center. I used a HSS metal cutting bit and never cut more than 0.010 each pass, feeding slowly. The fact that it worked may be proof that it is more important to be lucky than it is to be good. I suspect that if I ahd tried to turn them with hand held tools I would have not been able to cut so gently and probably would have shattered them all to blazes. They look rather nice if I may say so, a few voids and pitts which some folks might not like but I think add a lot of character. I am hoping that multiple thin coats of urethane varnish will level out the voids, and so far it seems to be working. The whole process is slow but heck I am only doing this for my personal entertainment -- so why not?
AgMD
Sounds like you and I have the same thoughts on machining the inserts. I use a harbor freight metalworking lathe and do almost the same thing. I centerbore the squares, then using an arbor made of 5/16" and I made some bushings that fit against the ends of the square, tighten lock nuts against the bushings then I also use a HSS cutter and maching them with no more than .020" per cut until I get to within 10 thou of the finish diameter of the insert. I finish it off with 4 grits of sandpaper turning at 1200 to 1400 rpm, the last pass being with 800 grit paper to polish the insert. I only get the small voids when turning a really open grain wood. Like you I am still a hobbyist and I guess one of the most enjoyable things about making your own is making all of the tools that it takes to get the job done. Fun stuff!!!