Advice please on finishing ash and purpleheart desktop

[Good Surname or what ?]

I have been posting progress in this thread Philip Hearsey style desk, and now I come to finishing this I don't want to wreck it.

I planned to use Osmo Polyx, which I have never used. How far should I sand this? I have a metabo sander and disks to 120 (edit: just found Abranet disk - 240). I have a Abranet hand sander pad with abrasives 120, 180 and 240. I also have papers to 500 !

With ash being so open grained do I need to seal this with sanding sealer before the Osmo?

Anythingelse I should do?

 

[Good Surname or what ?]

That's unusual - no replies.

I have decided to abandon the Osmo route having read some more threads on this forum - they all suggest it will yellow the ash. Instead I am going to finish it in shellac. I have some Hock blonde shellac and a neighbour has suggested white polish.

Is white polish a lighter shellac than blonde? It sounds like it should be but will I notice the difference?

I have tested some old white polish from said neighbour on a scrap and it doesn't dry as quickly as I expected and it's darkened the ash quite a lot - like when I wet it to raise the grain. Is that it's age? I wiped on three coats in quick succession as on pg 107 of DC's Guide to Handtools and methods. I left it for a couple of hours and it's tacky.

In the meantime I'm dissolving about 15g of the Hock Blonde in 200ml of meths as per DC's instructions in same book. I'll test that when dissolved.

Thoughts, please?

 

[Crooked Tree]

I have used white french polish (Liberon, I think) on light timbers (oak, beech etc.) and found no appreciable darkening. To the untrained eye it appears clear. I have yet to try "clear" polish. It dried just like other french polish that I have used. No suggestions as to why yours should take so long. Might it be a bit old and thick or something?

THe white french polish that I used was that sold by Axminster ready mixed.

 

[matthewwh]

Shellac does go off, once mixed it should really be used within a few months. The shelf life of the flakes is much longer - years, but even then it's not infinite.