# Finishing Padauk?



## dummkauf (Jun 11, 2010)

Any recommendations for finishing Padauk? I am making a small wooden case for my darts, which I found in a magazine(but did tweak a bit), and the outer edges are 1/4" Padauk with the bulk of the case being made of maple. I have 2 scrap pieces out in the shop, 1 with BLO on it, and the other with tung right now, just to see what I like, though they both look pretty much the same so far. Just curious if anyone has any suggestions for finishing this type of wood? It's already a beautiful red/orange color, so I don't want to color it, maybe just add oil to "pop" the grain some(testing tung and BLO now, but still open to suggestions), and then add a top coat of some sort, but any advice would be appreciated as this is the first time I have ever worked with Padauk.

It's glued up and clamped right now, but here is a shot of it(plus the 2nd case I am making) before gluing it up.









The other one is bloodwood, which hasn't been glued up yet, but if you have any suggestions for finishing that one, I would love to hear them too. Will post a better pic when the glue is dried and it's looking more like the final product.


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## sawdustfactory (Jan 30, 2011)

Hate to burst your bubble, but the orange/red color of paduak will not last forever. It will eventually turn brown (redishbrown), especially when exposed to sunlight.


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## dummkauf (Jun 11, 2010)

sawdustfactory said:


> Hate to burst your bubble, but the orange/red color of paduak will not last forever. It will eventually turn brown (redishbrown), especially when exposed to sunlight.


Yes I am aware that it will darken over time.


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## phinds (Mar 25, 2009)

dummkauf said:


> Yes I am aware that it will darken over time.


I don't thing "darken" adequately describes the color change in padauk. Bloodwood darkens ... that is, it starts off red and end up dark red.

Padauk starts off a beautiful red or orange or red-orange or whatever and ends up a MUCH less attractive brown. If you're lucky it'll still have a tinge of red, but that's not guaranteed.


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## WHWoodworking (Nov 1, 2011)

Interesting how the previous responders didn't actually answer your question. ;-)

I haven't worked with Paduk for a few years but when I did, I was in my Watco phase and it seemed to do pretty well. If you use something like lacquer, you might test a scrap piece, maybe wiping with lacquer thinner before putting on the finish. I seem to remember Paduk as being a little oily. Scraps plus experimenting will probably give you the best advice. Good luck


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## phinds (Mar 25, 2009)

WHWoodworking said:


> Interesting how the previous responders didn't actually answer your question. ;-)


 :laughing::laughing::laughing: Good catch !!!


My advice on finishing padauk is to first decide is it OK w/ you that there be some little open pore "dings" in your surface. If you're OK w/ that, most any finish should do fine, and if not then you'll want to start with some kind of filler. I don't use them so can't recommend any but I'm sure others here can.


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## Dvoigt (Dec 6, 2007)

I've used arm-r-seal with good results. I wouldn't be running to an oil finish for bloodwood, it is pretty dense and I don't think that the oil would do much good. (YMMV)


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## phinds (Mar 25, 2009)

Dvoigt said:


> I've used arm-r-seal with good results. I wouldn't be running to an oil finish for bloodwood, it is pretty dense and I don't think that the oil would do much good. (YMMV)


Just out of curiosity, why are you bringing up bloodwood when we are talking about padauk?


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## mdntrdr (Dec 22, 2009)

*Doh!*



dummkauf said:


> The other one is bloodwood, which hasn't been glued up yet, but if you have any suggestions for finishing that one, I would love to hear them too.


:smile:


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## phinds (Mar 25, 2009)

mdntrdr said:


> :smile:


Never mind ... I can't read.:icon_rolleyes:


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## Chaincarver Steve (Jul 30, 2011)

Spray lacquer works very well on padauk. So does polyurethane. It will darken with age but a go od surface coating, like those I've mentioned will preserve the color for a long time, especially if it is not sitting in the sun light. Though I'd try to finish it soon after a sanding so that you are coating freshly exposed wood and not oxidized wood.


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## VaureyWWC (Feb 21, 2011)

Chaincarver Steve said:


> Spray lacquer works very well on padauk. So does polyurethane. It will darken with age but a go od surface coating, like those I've mentioned will preserve the color for a long time, especially if it is not sitting in the sun light. Though I'd try to finish it soon after a sanding so that you are coating freshly exposed wood and not oxidized wood.


I've used spray lacquer, Linseed Oil, Mineral Oil, Waxes, and CA Glue (for turning of course)

Spray Lacquer will give it a longer lasting (in my opinion) orange color. My problem is I put way to much lacquer on my last large paduak product which for the first month gave it a beautiful almost mirror finish. The Checker Board was put onto a table next to a window then completely cracked out.

Personally I think you should just try different methods with scraps, if that is possible. That way in the future you know what finishes will be good for that particular project.


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## dummkauf (Jun 11, 2010)

WOW...thank you for the input! I'd pretty much given up on this thread but just checked back 

I'm not too worried about not having a glass smooth finish so filling in the grain won't be necessary. Sounds like lacquer will be my best bet here, which I never would have considered before, so I think I'll give that a shot.

As far as the aging of padauk, this is just a case for my darts that was made out of some scrap maple, and I ordered a couple exotic 1/4" boards to try some new woods. I ordered padauk because I liked the look and had never worked with it before(same with the bloodwood). As far darkening, this is a dart case that will be toted to the bar when I play and pulled out in my game room. It won't see a lot of light, and even if it darkens and gets ugly in a few years, I could always make another one too. That said, I have googled padauk and seen some images of it much darker and still don't think it looks that bad after darkening, granted it won't look as nice as it does right now, but I don't think I'll be tossing this case in the garbage because of it. Now had I spent $$$$ on padauk to make a dining room table or some other big piece, yes I would be upset when it darkened to that point.


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## dummkauf (Jun 11, 2010)

also, got them glued up a couple days ago, need to trim and sand, and will post some pics before I start the finish, and after eventually :thumbsup:


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## dummkauf (Jun 11, 2010)

got the edges trimmed and the boxes sanded down


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## dummkauf (Jun 11, 2010)

Played around with some oils and decided to go with a coat of BLO since I liked the look. Will give them a few days for that to cure and then planning on coating over it with lacquer.


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## Tony B (Jul 30, 2008)

If you really want to pop the grain, use nothing but a clear finish. I use lacquer. If you cant spray use a gloss poly. 
Anything else will muddy the finish. 
The finish you use has a lot to do with the quailty of the wood. Beautiful wood - leave it clear as can be. 
Lesser grade wood, use stain, BLO or anything else you can find to hide flaws or other unsightly areas.


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## dummkauf (Jun 11, 2010)

thank you for the tips, I did wind up doing the BLO and then top coating with laquer, next time maybe I'll try just the laquer to see how I like it, but for this project it turned out very well.

All closed up









A view of the end, still closed up









Extra set of flights


















Getting the darts out


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