Pine & wire wool

[Aggrajag]

I'm a beginner at finishing and although I've read a lot of articles, and certainly bought a lot of various finishes, I have to confess I've still got no idea.

I made a scroll-saw dragon out of pallet wood, probably pine, and sanded it beautifully including all around the edges with a self-made scroll saw sanding strip or three.

I then sealed it with a spirit based sealant (Liberon) that I've used many times and which works seems to work great on birch plywood and oak. This of course made all the soft grain swell up, which I had expected, so I waited a few days and sanded it all back down again. 320 grit.

I then thought I'd try Fiddes Hard Wax Oil; brushed on a thin layer and it looks OK, not wonderful but OK to good.

It's dried overnight and I thought I'd try, for the first time, the well-read-about method of 000 wirewool. Tried it on a section and all it seems to have done is scraped off the wax and left dry wires all over it. I now realise I forgot to use any lubricant. Oops.

Is this my only mistake or am I barking up the wrong tree?

 

[MattRoberts]

I've not tried wax oil, but I once tried wax over liberon sanding sealer, and had disastrous results. It discoloured the finish, and made it apply poorly.

I ended up cleaning it all off with white spirit, sanding it back down and then just applying the wax with wire wool to the sanded wood. The finish came out perfectly.

The trick I've found is to have two bits of wool. The first is to apply the finish. Leave it to dry for just a minute or two and then buff it smooth with the second (cleaner) bit of wool

 

[oakmitre]

Fiddles hardwax oil.

I've never used it, but I would be surprised if it requires a sanding sealer.

Some varnish oil blends would work over a sanding sealer but most oil products won't because the wood is sealed.

Have you tried it without ?

 

[Aggrajag]

I found a guide online a few months ago and took notes, it said this (I re-wrote it in long English so I could tick the steps off):

* Sand 180 grit
* Liberon Sealer, wait to fully dry
* Sand 240 grit
* Liberon Sealer, wait to fully dry
* Sand 240+ grit
* Fiddes Hard wax oil by brush
* Another Fiddes Hard wax oil by brush

So I was lazily following that. (The products were explicitly mentioned by name so I bought them both.)

I'll try both of your suggestions on another piece of wood before I continue with the dragon. Many thanks for your advice, it is truly appreciated.

 

[ED65]

I think your main problem here is all the texture, steel wooling is generally something for large flats, or around simple turned mouldings. Steel wool is an abrasive of course so you should expect that you have to be careful with it on high spots and at edges or corners.

I now realise I forgot to use any lubricant. Oops.

That's fine, I almost never use lubricant when I use wire wool. What I've found is all that tends to do is make the flakes of steel cling and be even harder to remove than they already are :lol:

I've not used the hard wax oil (and I have no real idea what goes into those because makers are very cagey about revealing exactly what their versions are made from) but I have used homemade oil finishes and oil/wax blends over sanding sealer many times without issue.