Buffing light colored woods

[W.Pastuch]

Recently I made a couple of decorations out of boxwood. Needless to say, it's a gorgeous material! I feel the big chunk I bought will get used quite quickly
Given the density of the wood I was quite suprized to see that buffing with tripoli gave me some problems with compound getting embedded in the fibers, especially on the edges of the workpiece.
Boxwood has a really nice, light color and the brown/reddish compound stained some parts of the workpiece to the point I had to trash it- not even 320 grit worked at removing it...

Does anyone have any tips how to prevent that from happening? Maybe sealing it (shellac? super glue & sanding?) before buffing would help?

This actually comes close to another problem I encountered - buffing around military mount brass/aluminum rings. What do you guys do to prevent the ugly oxide coming off the brass/aluminum from stainig the surrounding briar?

Any help will be appreciated and if I figure something out by myself I will share it here.

[sandahlpipe]

I've had similar problems though not with boxwood. For me, the solution was to rake the tripoli wheel to get the excess compound off. I've also found that denatured alcohol removes excess tripoli, though it can dull the finish.

[W.Pastuch]

Alcohol works for superficial buildup caused by too much compund, I'm talking about compound that gets embedded in the fibers.

[The Smoking Yeti]

I have ze solution!

I use Box Elder Burl for accent rings a lot, and it's VERY susceptible to this issue. It also has voids in the burl, which obviously can be a big issue. When I have the accent ring rough shaped- say 120 grit, I'll use a medium superglue and coat the whole ring- especially any larger pores. I'll then continue to sand the ring up through 800 grit or 1000 grit. Then I apply a fairly heavy coat of shellac, let it dry, and buff out any lines. Red tripoli won't dive into the pores if you did a good superglue fill and a good shellac job. Plus, it'll hold a better shine!

[pipedreamer]

I use a pin gauge and spin it on the lathe at around 250rpm, take a paper towel and apply a 1 to 1 mixture shellac and boiled linseed oil. Work it in for a minute or so, let it stand for 20 minutes, then wipe well with a dry paper towel. This keeps all the junk out of the fibers. This should solve your problem Wojtek.

[baweaverpipes]

I avoid red compound and go from 400 grit sandpaper to white compound. Boxwood is dense and I get a good shine with white compound and avoid the red discoloring the boxwood. With a final waxing, it shines like a mirror.
Regarding the brass, I use a tiny buffing wheel on my dremel.

[W.Pastuch]

Thank you for all the input!
I hope to keep the color pristine on the next piece I'll be working on.

[socrates]

Great information, thanks.

Sent from my HTC0P3P7

[Sasquatch]

Weaver and the Yeti (sounds like a 60s band) have it right. Sealing white woods with something clear keeps them clean, and if you have to buff metal, do it with something else. Also consider the direction the wheel is spinning in, and go from light to dark in that regard.