A13 dovetailed infill plane continued (5)
It is difficult to believe that these two pictures of the boxwood are the same handle. It is amazing what you can do with light.
This work is nice and easy but I find it a little tedious and boring. The start to finish on one handle is at least 2 days.
The abrading that you can see is particulary extensive as I have to remove every bruise or tear to the fibres which are left behind after the shaping. I start at 80 and work down to 400 grits. After using 600 grits then final finish is with 0000 steel wool.
Normally these marks are not seen when using polish but my chosen finish for wood infills is always oil. This is very clean, business like, mellows the wood nicely and is easy to maintain. The only downside is that the preparation work for oiling is considerably greater than for French polishing; this is because the finish has to be absolutely perfect as the oil will show up every scratch and blemish.
Four dovetailed bodies waiting for their infills.
Karl,
Do you recommend any particular oil? I am using bubinga as my infill wood.
Comment by Chad — February 4, 2011 @ 8:17 am
Hi
I am sorry but I can’t be much help here as I have no experience of this wood. As you no doubt know oil will darken any woods but looking at examples of bubinga the wood is light enough and you shouldn’t lose too much contrast. I have tried several oils over the past but I keep coming back to Danish oil. This dries and goes quite hard and leaves the surface with a nice texture and lustre. I would recommend you try out whatever you use on a sample first.
It would be nice to see a picture when you have finished. I have seen some nice examples of this wood used in guitar making.
k
Comment by admin — February 4, 2011 @ 9:42 am
Karl,
Thank you so much for the response to my question. I’ll definitely test on a piece of scrap first. I will send a photo when it’s done. Thanks again, Chad.
Comment by Chad — February 5, 2011 @ 4:25 am
Hi Chad
Just thought I should mention that oiling takes a high degree of preparation as it shows up the smallest blemish which would normally be hidden by polishing.
Look forward to seeing future pictures.
k
Comment by admin — February 5, 2011 @ 11:17 am