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"Traditional" finishes: experiences & comments?

I was reading a chinese book (translation, of course) that son got me and there was a page on the old methods of finishing with wax, a mix of beeswax and "white" wax or "insect wax". About that same time, Fine Tool Journal came out with Chris Schwarz's article on Roubo, Don Williams, and the French method of finishing with beeswax and perhaps sometimes added vegetable waxes like carnauba.

You can tell in the Chinese book that the government writer was not a woodworker, but the gist of the description seems to be that the ancient method was to put on more or less liquid melted wax, and then iron it in with hot irons before rubbing down and polishing. The French dipped a tightly bound small bundle of broomcorn (a "polissoir") into molten wax which saturated but quickly solidified. The wax was rubbed into the work, building it up gradually. Excess wax being scraped off with a wooden edge, and the finish rubbed out with coarse cloth.

I'm finishing a small QS white oak cabinet that is sort of deco-out-out-of-A&C (simple "medieval" single board construction with exposed joinery, but some finer lines and an off setting cascade of small brass coin pulls in the center section). The wax idea intrigues me. The case is immediately spec'd to contain the client's small audio equipment and CD's with the idea that since such are essentially obsolete it may be "repurposed" to general storage at some later date. Point being, it will not see wet or hard use.

I tried a sample board of QS w. oak and rather like the finish. It does mar, but polishes out with a hand or cloth nicely. It does have the effect of some "old" work & some old ecclesiastical work i have seen. My method (on the sample) was to brush on about a 1-1/2 or 2# cut of fresh super blonde shellac to saturate the pores. Then sand off the surface and wax over that more or less by the french method described by CS ( I cut up an old broom to make my polisher). We keep bees so theres lots of good hard white beeswax here. I don't have anything else to mix with it on hand.

As CS notes, it is a far different (better looking, harder) finish from what one get using "paste" wax.

Has anyone else used a similar finish? Pro's/cons? What is the long term service experience? Would you do it again for a similar application?

smt
 
I think you will find a wax finish to be somewhat delicate and a bit of a maintenance problem compared to varnish or other more durable finish. As long as no one leaves a wet drink on it overnight and cleans and polishes every-so-often, it'll be fine. I consider wax type finishes to be an on-going project for the life of the object.
 
We had a cabinet maker from Holland in Williamsburg when I first came there. He believed in NOTHING buy a few coats of watered down shellac,and beeswax. Looked totally lifeless. Every pore showed. Beeswax is not transparent,and quite dead looking even in very thin applications. I'd never try using wax as a finish.
 
Many moons ago- I did a stint of bench work as a luthier.
The favored finish for old work was a French polish. We just had jars of shellac dissolved in alcohol & would buff onto wood with mineral oil as a carrier.
As an aside- my dad used to do tissue preparations for micro-tome work and I remember him telling me that water was displaced by wax in some process of alcohol and wax which suggested to me that a wax can also be carried in a solution.

I like wax finishes at times- that small box I just did was a beeswax finish.
Simply rubbed in and buffed..

You got me a-wondering about the similarity of shellac and waxes and found that one can purchase pure shellac wax:

Item # 68-1053, Powdered Shellac Wax on Frank B. Ross

The other waxes on this site are worth a look- who knew?:
Candelilla Wax on Frank B. Ross
 
Shellac naturally contains wax. When you buy it, you can get it with wax, or de-waxed. If you are going to use the shellac in conjunction with other finishes, it's best to get the de-waxed version.
 
FWIW, I use about 10 - 20 lbs of dewaxed superblonde shellac flakes (dry wt) some years. Very familiar with shellac, preferred finish for interior "non-production" wooden items & sometimes required for restoration work.

The only other finish I have used for the past 15 or so years is conversion varnish, for production work and some "custom" items. It would give the look I want, with some flattener added to it. I have used it on QS oak and other than darkening it, with flatting agent it does give the wonderful open grain, shows the pores, dull sheen George describes; but with a lot of stain resistance. Unfortunately, with time or moisture cycles (~15 - 20 years) the grain raises and it becomes less attractive.

I think QS w oak is hideous with a clear filled pore shiny finish, though I have done it on request & in some cases it is historically correct. I do think it can make a nice modern finish with contrasting filler colors, but that is not the look aiming for here.

I'm looking for that old cathedral woodwork look, not the ones done early in the past century, but the ones done even further back, when even shellac was rare.

It's kind of down to conversion varnish, or the shellac wash + wax; and I'm leaning toward the latter due to lighter color and ease of repair.

Here's a practice finish, front. (Unfinished board in the back)

smt_beeswaxQSoak2.jpg


Here's the piece, nearing completion. Still fitting and adjusting. Obviously not planed and scraped down yet.

smt_beeswaxQSoak1.jpg


The idea (my idea) was to make a somewhat refined piece, using ancient methods, and solid lumber. Every now & then I get completely tired of doing perfect wood engineering which is my typical modus, and go the other direction for play. The doors, for instance are merely slabs of ~15" wide QS material. The exterior of the carcass is one plank that started at about 16" wide also. So we shall see how "deco by way of A & C out of medieval with modern hardware" :D performs over a years cycle in a house with wood heat (client's, not mine)

Part of my Q, I was hoping someone who uses such finishes, could comment on whether adding carnauba to beeswax had any real advantage (people who have done it :) ) and what to expect.

smt
 
I'd definitely vote for the wax finish on that lovely piece Stephen, I think it will look great! As long as your client understands the need to do the maintenance work as needed. Or you could sell a contract to drop by and re-polish periodically.

I've had just a bit of experience with wax over wash coat shellac, only on small table top pieces. I especially like it on ebony and rosewood, gets a nice soft satiny gleam, and reveals as much of the structure of the wood as possible. I used Trewax, which is a relatively hard wax i think. Also Renaissance Wax.

I think the harder waxes are a bit more protective maybe hold up longer, but can be more difficult to apply without streaking. But I can't really answer your question.
 
Thanks for the input so far!

Richard, I think the client will be fine with a finish that is close to the wood and may require occasional "user input"; plus the bee association may be appreciated.

Trewax is my favorite pastewax; it performs well but mostly it just plain smells good especially when you open a drawer that has some wax in it. Not like the stinky diesel smell of most paste wax products. ("Nice") odor can be a significant sensory enhancer in experiencing a piece. I can't tell if dried Trewax is as hard as beeswax or possibly harder. I was surprised to find that as Chris Schwarz notes, beeswax polished in, is "shinier" and a completely different effect than pastewax on wood. Dunno why that should be so or if it is a delusional effect. :)

To hijack my own thread, per your note on ebony with a spit polish of shellac and Trewax, here is a shot of some of the wonderful QS ebony you sold me (front bun) with that exact finish.

infillplane15.jpg


smt
 








 
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