Finish help

[BJ Pipes]

So I'm in a bind I have a pipe that needs to go out by this weekend and this is the first pipe I have finished in ~ 5 months, because I am a full time student. I have sanded perfectly to 400, but mow I forgot what order of steps to do a shallac / carnauba (natural) finish. I remember it going somthing like this:

4-600 grt
Buff with Brown or Red tripoli (I have both?)
Buff with White diamond
Shellac
Dry buff


Aside from this problem I have a motor running at 1725 rpm and I cant get the buffing wheel to distribute a smooth layer of wax.

I may try and use my lathe which is a 1946 logan metal lathe but I can't find specifics on its rpm's. However i have used it as well with good results.

My issue here is I have been a bit out of practice, and this pipe is very good and I can't afford to screw the pooch. Any clarity as to the order of the process and suggested rpm's would be awesome

Thanks

Brighton J. de los Santos

[K.Anastasopoulos]

I sand my pipes with 400 - 800 - 1000 grid by hand
and then I am coloring the pipe with alcohol color (never shelac)
and then I buff with brown Tripoli, White Diamont and finally canauba wax.

[BJ Pipes]

I cant imagine you would need to sand as far as 800-1000, the brown tripoli is about 4-500 grit so it's kind of a backwards step... From what i understand. But yeah I am using the shallac instead of an alcohol stain because this pipe as an antler shank glued on and I cant afford to get it stained... but with shallac i can get a clear protective coating that also animates the wood grain to make a nice natural pipe.

[taharris]

So I'm in a bind I have a pipe that needs to go out by this weekend and this is the first pipe I have finished in ~ 5 months, because I am a full time student. I have sanded perfectly to 400, but mow I forgot what order of steps to do a shallac / carnauba (natural) finish. I remember it going somthing like this:

4-600 grt
Buff with Brown or Red tripoli (I have both?)
Buff with White diamond
Shellac
Dry buff


Aside from this problem I have a motor running at 1725 rpm and I cant get the buffing wheel to distribute a smooth layer of wax.

I may try and use my lathe which is a 1946 logan metal lathe but I can't find specifics on its rpm's. However i have used it as well with good results.

My issue here is I have been a bit out of practice, and this pipe is very good and I can't afford to screw the pooch. Any clarity as to the order of the process and suggested rpm's would be awesome

Thanks

Brighton J. de los Santos

The shellac goes on before buffing. And it is important to buff lightly so as not to remove the shellac.

If you are not distributing wex well and it is clumping up you may just have too much wax on your buffing wheel. A little bit goes a long way and too much will give you headaches.

Todd

[JonBood]

Sorry to hijack the topic but since shellac is mentioned here I remembered a question I had a while ago.
Has anyone (other than me) encountered problems with small parts of the leather stain (alcohol based) being dissolved and floating out when applying alcohol dissolved shellac or other EtOH-based lacquer?

This happened to me the few times I tried to apply shellac even though I had sanded down the leather stain and then covered with a water soluble yellowish stain..

Regards Jon

[RadDavis]

Apply a coat of shellac, and immediately wipe it off while it's good and wet. Keep wiping until it's dry. Then do your normal buffing procedure.

You can't get a nice smooth and even finish letting shellac dry on a pipe before buffing.

Rad

[caskwith]

Sorry to hijack the topic but since shellac is mentioned here I remembered a question I had a while ago.
Has anyone (other than me) encountered problems with small parts of the leather stain (alcohol based) being dissolved and floating out when applying alcohol dissolved shellac or other EtOH-based lacquer?

This happened to me the few times I tried to apply shellac even though I had sanded down the leather stain and then covered with a water soluble yellowish stain..

Regards Jon

Yep this can happen if you agitate it to much and let it start dissolving the stain. Use a large brush and try to cover the pipes as quickly as possible in as a few a strokes as possible, then quickly wipe of with a paper towel using the same method.

[BJ Pipes]

Hey thank you guys all so much, this is my first time posting in this forum and it's awesome to get this kind of support. Ok so I have a much better understanding for how to proceed but can i get suggestion for what rpm's to use for:

brown tripoli
red tripoli
white diamond
wax and dry buff

also does any one know what grit red and brown tripoli are , I purchased red some after studying with Jeff last year but as i have been out of practice i can remember which is what.

[taharris]

Apply a coat of shellac, and immediately wipe it off while it's good and wet. Keep wiping until it's dry. Then do your normal buffing procedure.

You can't get a nice smooth and even finish letting shellac dry on a pipe before buffing.

Rad

Thanks Rad.

[Sasquatch]

RPM depends on wheel size, but 750-1500 is fine for all those purposes on a 8" wheel.

When we speak of using shellac in this way, we are talking about using it in an extremely thinned out version too - not a 5 pound cut out of the bottle. .5 lb would be more like it.

[Sasquatch]

Or rather, I am, anyway. I don't know what cut Rad uses. I imagine he just uses spray-on lacquer to save time versus this whole buffing/waxing business.

[BJ Pipes]

damn, just realized I have had my platina shellac mixed for about 6 months the alcohol may have evaporated a bit.... I might need to mix up a new batch...

[BJ Pipes]

Great just did a test piece and it came out quite well, i'll run out tomorrow and nab some fresh alcohol and mix a new batch of shellac. But I should get this baby done soon, until then I'm gonna get the stem finished up. Thanks for all the help. i'll post in the gallery when I'm done!

[RadDavis]

Also, as it gets older, shellac will take more and more time to dry properly. It'll stay tacky for a longer and longer time. This isn't as important on smooth pipes where you're wiping it off while it's wet, but on blasts an rusticated finishes, it's nice to have the finish dry in about a half hour versus a few days.

I change my shellac about every 3 months, whether it needs it or not.

Rad

[BJ Pipes]

As I have it figured out so far

Sand to 400

Base Stain (if contrast/then sand again with 400)

Sand to 600 (higher if desired?)

Secondary stain( if contrast/ primary stain if no contrast)

Apply shellac (at about a .5 lb cut and wipe off before it dries so as to achieve a smooth surface when waxing)

Buff with Red Rouge (~1200-900 rpms?) (lightly so as to not eat crisp corners)

Buff with White diamond (~1200-900 rpms? (light pressure , but moderately loaded with compound)

Polish with Carnauba Wax (~1200-900 rpms?) (moderate then light pressure to shine)

Polish with dry buff (~1200-900rpms?) light pressure to high shine

Any corrections I should make? also how long should the shellac dry when i wipe it off, It seems to only take a few minutes?

[andrew]

As I have it figured out so far

Sand to 400

Base Stain (if contrast/then sand again with 400)

Sand to 600 (higher if desired?)

Secondary stain( if contrast/ primary stain if no contrast)

Apply shellac (at about a .5 lb cut and wipe off before it dries so as to achieve a smooth surface when waxing)

Buff with Red Rouge (~1200-900 rpms?) (lightly so as to not eat crisp corners)

Buff with White diamond (~1200-900 rpms? (light pressure , but moderately loaded with compound)

Polish with Carnauba Wax (~1200-900 rpms?) (moderate then light pressure to shine)

Polish with dry buff (~1200-900rpms?) light pressure to high shine

Any corrections I should make? also how long should the shellac dry when i wipe it off, It seems to only take a few minutes?

The only thing you might want to consider is the use of gloves. Your sweaty mits can reanimate the stain you've just sanded off and glob it back on the stummel in a rather grotesque fashion. This is more of an issue with contrast finishes. If you use gloves, just get yourself some really cheap cotton ones from Home Depot. They come in packs of six pairs for $5 or something like that.

[RadDavis]

I let the shellac dry for a couple of minutes after wiping it off. It's basically dry after you wipe it.

Rad

[SimeonTurner]

It's basically dry after you wipe it.

True in so many parts of life.

[BJ Pipes]

Ok this is something i need to know, how polished is highly polished, I get the surface finely sanded buffed and polished and it looks perfect from about 6 inches under a strong light but when you look across the surface in a weak light and you're really close up it has a pattern from the wood brain. and i'm no talking about over buffing it I'm saying that you can see just the very subtle pattern from the pores. i just want that perfect glass finish every one else seems to get. do they just look good in the photos or is there something I'm missing?

Brighton J. de los Santos

[Sasquatch]

There's lots of tricks to get that super smooth shine, including raising the grain with water and re-sanding, filling the surface with a clear coat (shellac or lacquer) and then grinding that off.... usually by the time I get to the diamond compound, the pipe is pretty glassy....