Wax polishing - smart moves?

[ondablade]

I bought a couple of oak tables finished fairly lightly in a sprayed two pack clear with a view to tidying them up and moving them on, and have just finished cutting them back with fine 00 steel wool and polishing them with Rustin's beeswax polish. The thinking was basically that the fairly heavy build of wax it gives should work well over the still somewhat open grain.

They came up very nicely to give that soft and characterful gloss you get with wax, but it's quite hard work and it set me thinking that maybe there are better techniques than the basic manual methods I'm used to.

So (a) is this a decent wax polish, do some of the fancier brands/types offer any clear advantage, and is it possible to get a decent finish with wax over untreated wood?, (b) is there a better preparation, application and polishing technique? (e.g. I've heard of using a damped cloth pad to polish off in a variant of the spit and polish technique) and (c) what's about by way of power techniques for doing the same cutting back and polishing jobs? (I've tried a car type power buffer before, but it didn't seem to add all that much)

 

[Matt@]

be interesting to see replies to this as I'm convinced theres people out there using buffing mops and certain products and achieving fantastic wax finishes but I can't find out what they're using

 

[Dibs-h]

I've tried a car type power buffer before, but it didn't seem to add all that much

http://www.autoperfection.com/shop/Kest ... googlebase

That's the type used by the car detailing lot. The single speed ones are giving way to these and the 2 handled ones that are £20 are a waste of time.

HIH

Dibs

You can get velcro polishing pads/bonnets that are 6" diameter and fit the Metabo 6" ROS perfectly! Worth a try, especially as the surface is flat. 3M make them.

 

[Ian]

I finish my boxes with shellac then its cut back and waxed - the method I use is apply a generous amount with a cloth and wait for 2 minutes then buff of with my Randon orbit with lambs wools bonnet.

One thing I don't do is let it dry for 20 mins as it says on the tin because you will end up with streaks which will be very hard to shift in fact the only way to shift is to re apply the wax.

Also the best wax I have used is the super wax from smith & Rodger https://vault2.secured-url.com/frenchpo ... ishes.html

Hope this helps.

Ian

 

[ondablade]

Keep 'em coming

That's the type of polisher I used Dibs - with a lambswool mop. Thanks for the link on the wax Ian - those are lovely looking boxes on your site..