# Friction polish attempt-not good



## nblasa (Nov 29, 2011)

I'm making a cake knife angle for my niece and thought I'd try a homemade friction polish for the first time. (Yes, I'm aware from doing some research afterwards that this is not a durable finish and shouldn't have started down this route, but I wanted to try something new). Nonetheless the finish is dull and I guess I have a few questions here. Returning it to the lathe is possible if I use my chuck but would I be better off just using some mineral oil to add a little more water protection to the finish? Is there a spray finish that would go well over the waxy, oily surface? (I'm thinking lacquer wouldn't be water-resistant enough and poly wouldn't stick). 

Also, could someone direct me to a thread that gives instructions for the steps to take in doing a friction polish finish. I'm thinking my shellac may be too old and my lathe may have been set at too slow a speed but I don't know much about applying this finish.


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## Lilty (Dec 20, 2006)

Try You Tube may be something there.


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## john lucas (Sep 18, 2007)

Generally a friction polish has to be rubbed hard and/or fast to bring up a shine or to smooth out lines. Not sure why it's dull, usually they bad application just means it's glossy but streaky or runny looking. Put it back on the lathe if you can and apply just a drop of finish to a soft cotton cloth. Then buff it on at fairly high speed an see if you can sort of melt the finish and smooth it out. 
Mineral oil is will not stop water damage. It's no a finish and is good for only cutting boards.
You can remove the finish you have if you can find out what the solvent is. Probably alcohol but not all friction polishes use that.
Wax is not a water proof finish. It barely resists water. Shellac is better (which is what many friction polishes are) Lacquer is better and polyeurethane is best.


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## nblasa (Nov 29, 2011)

John, I used shellac, BLO, and denatured alcohol. The shellac is about a year old. Will the DNA remove the wax and oil enough to apply a poly finish? If it would, I will probably use a wipe on.


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## jgilfor (Jan 25, 2013)

You should be able to sand the surface, using the already set finish as a sanding sealer coat. Then you can finish over that with something like poly.


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## nblasa (Nov 29, 2011)

Thanks for the tips. I sanded it down and put on a few coats of ***. It is some ambrosia maple and it looks much better now


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