Tips for buffing wax

[Silly_Billy]

I’ve just experimented by applying Liberon Wax Polish over (long since cured) Danish oil. It’s worked nicely to bring out the grain, but ...

... I’m disappointed that the wax hasn’t added much sheen. I polished off the wax with a lint-free cloth. Should I have used a furniture polishing brush?

 

[custard]

You need a genuine hardwax, made with a high percentage of carnauba.

soft-beeswax-polish-recipe-t109073.html

The bad news is it's not commercially available so you'll have to brew your own, not that it's at all difficult.

Actually there may be something available commercially,

https://www.workshopheaven.com/alfie-shine.html

Furthermore someone kindly sent me a dollop to evaluate against my home brewed hard wax, but they didn't include their details so I've no idea who it was! If the mystery donor is reading this, I haven't forgotten and I'll do it in the next week or two and post up the results.

Go back ten or twenty years and a really common finish for hobbyist woodworkers was sanding sealer topped off with a genuine carnauba or shellac wax hardwax. But as fashions changed and people no longer wanted such a high gloss finish then it's fallen by the wayside.

 

[ED65]

One coat of wax may not be enough to add much additional sheen, wax is a very thin finish. If applied to wood without much build on the surface already (which would be typical for Danish oil) two or more coats could easily be required, and you can continue to add coats until you get the shine you want.

What's the item BTW? If you want to increase gloss and it would be useful for it to be more permanent/durable then wiping varnish is a better option than wax.

 

[custard]

You might find this thread useful Billy,

topic112414.html

If you're using paste wax multiple coats won't get you very far, they contain so much solvent they're wiping previous coats off as fast as you're applying new ones! Hard waxes are a different matter, there you can build up both the gloss and the finish.

 

[CHJ]

I’ve just experimented by applying Liberon Wax Polish over (long since cured) Danish oil. It’s worked nicely to bring out the grain, but ...

... I’m disappointed that the wax hasn’t added much sheen. I polished off the wax with a lint-free cloth. Should I have used a furniture polishing brush?

I think one of the things to assess is where are you expecting the 'gloss' to come from.
The reflective properties of the wood surface or the surface of the glazing you are applying.

The reflective nature of a piece using soft waxes will depend on whether the underlying surface is scattering the light rays in multiple directions (unsealed and/or unfilled)

or polarizing them all in the same direction. (smooth and pore filled surface.)

To some extent I think applying Hard Wax is a bit like Glazing China, you are smoothing the underlying surface and providing an outer surface with a high reflective index that's not relying on the underlying substrate.