Questions on Finishing Cocobolo

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Bm101

Lean into the Curve
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I've just made a ring box from cocobolo. All one piece, no joints or glue. I've read that it can be resistant to a non wax finish. Ie oil bases won't always set. I have some liquid shellac, can i coat it with that and then apply tru oil or osmo as normal? I also have some Alfie shine hard wax. I'd quite like a glass like finish if possible. The top is the end grain.
Whats the best approach?
Many thanks.
Chris
 
clean it off with acetone to get rid of any oils on the surface and this will help the shellac coat stick
 
Shellac will act as a pore sealant, Oils are normally applied to bare wood as they need to penetrate the wood to form the bond.
 
I have two clarinets made of cocobolo. They are shellacked on the inside, and oiled with e.g. tung or almond oil on the outside. No problems for either.
 
Thanks for the replies guys.
There's various info about the my concern. Maybe I misunderstood? Possibly about calling osmo and tru oil etc oil based finishes? An example here. https://www.wood-database.com/wood-arti ... hardwoods/

In the end it's done ( so far). I didn't have any acetone so I took a gamble. Cleaned it up with meths. 3 light coats of shellac wire wooled in between.
All a bit cautiously. It seemed to work. Left with a dull mat but scratch free surface at least to my eye. I applied 2 coats of the tru oil and it dried ok. Will use the old micro mesh and keep adding layers till I get a perfect finish. I think the tru oil goes on so thin that it just takes a minute scratch coat to bond. By the time I get to the higher grades of micro mesh and a few coats on should be mustard. I'd post a pic but the pc ist kaput.

Shame the musical interlude got moved. Absolutely fascinating. Didn't mind sharing! :D

Thanks all as always. Much appreciated.
Chris
 
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