Just Joined!!

[Andy Kaiser]

Well, I am a newbie here at woodworkingcrafts. I have been searching the forums for some opinions that I am looking for and ran upon a post about "Lurkers and Guest" thought that I qualified as one of them so I joined.:D

The opinions that I was looking for are about types of finish. I am a custom turkey call maker and have been experimenting with several different finishes. I have tried rub on, brush on and spray with out the results that I am looking for. I am looking for something that makes a truly "professional" looking finish.

The finish that I use must be durable and weather resistant. Price is really not a factor, because this is something that I am going to have to have. I also have to be able to use in on exotic woods such as Cocobola and Zircote. I have also had a problem with finishes such as oils thinning my name and date out on the back of the call. The best that I have found yet is spar urethane, but it takes forever to apply as many coats as I need to get the result that I like. I found on another post that I could thin the urethane down with either thinner or naptha and rub it on instead of brushing. I may give this a try.

Would any of you happen to have any opinions or suggestions on different finishes that I could try? I appreciate any help that you can offer. Thanks again, Andy Kaiser.

[Admin]

Welcome aboard and thanks for joining,

I'm not a finish expert so I won't tackle that one... I'd love to see some good discussion on this one.

[dananne]

Glad to have another voice - and those calls you make must be real good looking as well as something to get the birds interest.

I too would like to hear from an expert or at least one with some experience. The finish I am most interested in hearing about is epoxy resin. I would like to know a lot more about it, ways you can apply, how you apply, etc. Hope we get a real discussion going here. I will add a thought or two about the more conventional finishes as soon as I check my can to be sure I am talking about what I think I am talking about. Dan

[dananne]

Here is the information I was thinking about. I have found that I like the looks of a finish that looks like it is deep. Like you are looking into the wood. The closest I have come to this is with a combination of finishes. The first is tung oil or a good similar. This I thin down for the first two coats, sanding between and after. Then a coat straight from the can. Sand. Then a coat of varithane. I think varithane is a brand name for a urethane. Another sand, another coat. This is about it for me. The sanding is progressively finer and at the end I may just be wipeing it off with steel wool. I think what I like about this is the tung oil seems to penitrate real good and harden up below the surface of the wood. The varithane then is a surface coat, and the only reason for a second coat is to increase the thickness of the film. Just one guys way of doing something. I do like to leave as much time as I can between coats. Several days but we do have high humidity here most of the time. Hi --- You other craftsmen that are out there, join in on this and share your methods. Dan

[Andy Kaiser]

Thank you for the replies. I have tried a few oil finishes and all of them thinned the ink down where I signed it (both Sharpie and india Ink). Right now I am using spar urethane. I apply usually three coats, sanding between each. Some woods require a fourth coat also.

I also like the finish to look deep. The problem that I am having with the plain urethane is the dry time. It seems like my calls collect a little dust before the urethane is dry and I have no way of preventing this. I thought that I would try adding 10% naptha and see how this turns out. I thought that I would try rubbing it on instead of brushing. Another problem that I was having with the urethane is that it doesn't dry on Cocobola or Zircote. Even though I whipped it down with Acetone. I have found out that if I put a coat of Shellac (sp?) on first it will seal the wood and allow the urethane to dry. This I am going to try.

I know nothing about an epoxy resin finish, but I am going to look it up since you mentioned it. I will let you know if I find anything.

You can see some of my calls at my website, Kaiser Kalls. (http://www.kaiserkalls.com)

[Andy Kaiser]

Dananne, I read about the Epoxy Resin and it sounds like the way for me to go. I would never use a whole gallon though. The table and bar epoxy is what I would like to get, but they don't have it in a pint.:(

[dananne]

I am sure that some one will, we will just have to do some looking. I'll let you know if I find anything. Someone else here on the forum may have an outlet. If you get some and try it, let me know what you think of it. I have thought that the bar finish was a pour on finish, where the wood had to be level so the finish wouldn't run off. Did you find some that could be brushed on??
Keep in touch -- dan

[Andy Kaiser]

I don't know about the bar finish being pour on. I just read the directions and it doesn't specify which resins you can/can't brush on. I have found a couple of smaller amounts, but I am reading now to see if it is the same stuff.

Here is a link to the stuff that I have found. It is available in a 2 Quart Kit. It says that it is design to be about 1/8" thick when applied correctly. I am not sure, but that may be too much for me. I think I will give it a try anyway.

[john_p]

for me a truly professional look is best made with boiled linseed oil, 2 or 3 coats a day apart, with about a 400 grit between them, then 4+ coats of shellac with a 600 grit once over between them, i use orange or amber for darker woods. this was the only way to go 20 years or so ago. for something as small as a turkey call, it would be perfect. linseed oil dries totally after it is boiled, most oils never dry. with those woods put a few on line for us to enjoy.
any finish becomes a wipe on if you thin it enough.

[StuW]

I have a friend who makes rifle stocks out of exotic woods. He showed me one that blew me away. I have been making desktop clocks and usually finish with several coats of Tung Oil and lastly a coat of Carnauba Wax. He had a rifle stock that looked like it was made of glass and I asked him what type of urethane he used. He told me that all he does is hand rub his wood with an oil called "Tru Oil". I'm not sure of the spelling. But he rubs with his hand until the wood get very warm to the touch and then rubs some more. He puts several coats on and this oil seems to harden. Probably some kind of varnish ingredient. It must be labor intensive but the finish sure looks worth it.

StuW

[Andy Kaiser]

Tru Oil does make a beautiful finish. I have tried it before. I just ordered some stuff off of the internet that was suggested to me. It is a mixture of Shellac and wax. I am going to give it a try also.