Woodnet Forums

Part of my current project is pear wood. My final finish will be shellac (garnet shellac) and wax. Another species of wood in this piece will receive BLO coat first, before I apply shellac. i am debating whether to do that to the pear, which has a rather defined and delicate figure.

I did what I always do -- made a test piece, shellac on bare pear on one half, and BLO followed by shellac on the other half. For the first time ever, I didn't get a clear answer. The figure pops more with BLO. But I am concerned it might also make the pear muddy looking, which would be a losing tradeoff for a wood that demands clarity. The test piece is small, and necessarily from a different board with different figure than the one in my piece, which I think is why I am not sure.

Any thought or experience?

Thanks again.

It might be a language thing, but I've never thought of BLO as making grain looking "muddy" on any wood. Still, it sounds as thought the improvement might be slight (the "no clear answer" part) and I'm a fan of not adding anything if there isn't a clear reason to do so.

Krenoff liked just a little shellac on his pear wood pieces, IIRC.  That would be good enough for me.  

John