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+-- Thread: Starting my own (Wood) Burnishing experiments (/showthread.php?tid=7332536)
RE: Starting my own (Wood) Burnishing experiments - Skip J. - 12-21-2017
(12-21-2017, 09:02 AM)wmickley Wrote: In 18th century France the polissoir was made from jonc ordinaire, which is rush, not broom corn. Rush is a much more delicate material, a bit like chives with pith inside. They did have tools for burnishing called brunissoirs, made from pieces of wood. Walnut makes a nice burnisher because it is just soft enough to avoid scratching the work.Hi Warren; good to see you in here again!
I take it from your comment that the original rush was bulrush or soft rush, not cattail stems????
RE: Starting my own (Wood) Burnishing experiments - Admiral - 12-21-2017
(12-21-2017, 04:18 PM)Skip J. Wrote: Hi Warren; good to see you in here again!
I take it from your comment that the original rush was bulrush or soft rush, not cattail stems????
I've got to dig out the leftover rush from a chair seat I wove perhaps 20 years ago, and see what I can do with it; if I can find it!
RE: Starting my own (Wood) Burnishing experiments - wmickley - 12-21-2017
(12-21-2017, 04:18 PM)Skip J. Wrote: Hi Warren; good to see you in here again!The rush used by Roubo and mentioned in Felibien (1667) is Juncus effusus, or a closely related species. Soft rush would be right.
I take it from your comment that the original rush was bulrush or soft rush, not cattail stems????
RE: Starting my own (Wood) Burnishing experiments - Skip J. - 12-22-2017
(12-21-2017, 10:53 PM)wmickley Wrote: The rush used by Roubo and mentioned in Felibien (1667) is Juncus effusus, or a closely related species. Soft rush would be right.
Thanks Warren; I thought that would be the case. I think the plant uptakes silica into the stem, which then makes a fine polishing material (included with the rush) on the business end. Juncus effusus - soft rush - is the most common wet plant here on the gulf coast.
RE: Starting my own (Wood) Burnishing experiments - wmickley - 12-22-2017
(12-22-2017, 08:34 AM)Skip J. Wrote: Thanks Warren; I thought that would be the case. I think the plant uptakes silica into the stem, which then makes a fine polishing material (included with the rush) on the business end. Juncus effusus - soft rush - is the most common wet plant here on the gulf coast.
I don't think silica in soft rush plays much of a role. The silica is not especially high and Roubo does not list it with other mildly abrasive materials like horsetail or sharkskin. Nor does he list it with burnishers. I think polishing here means applying finishing material, not so much abrading.
RE: Starting my own (Wood) Burnishing experiments - Admiral - 12-22-2017
(12-21-2017, 05:31 PM)Admiral Wrote: I've got to dig out the leftover rush from a chair seat I wove perhaps 20 years ago, and see what I can do with it; if I can find it!
The concept motivated me; I used "fiber rush" from Woodcraft, label was still on the leftover roll. I think it is a paper product, but some quick rubbing on some cherry and it did produce burnish, I have to infuse the ends with wax, but my bride has a honey-do list I'd better get to, so that will come later. A trip to Walmart for some poly twine, a couple of hose clamps to hold it, and Bob's your uncle, I massaged it a bit so now its straight on that one end.....
![[Image: 39194665322_93a83013ca_b.jpg]](https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4682/39194665322_93a83013ca_b.jpg)
RE: Starting my own (Wood) Burnishing experiments - Jim Waldron - 12-24-2017
From Don Williams:
http://donsbarn.com/a-juncus-polissoir-i/
http://donsbarn.com/a-juncus-polissoir-ii/
http://donsbarn.com/a-juncus-polissoir-iii/
http://donsbarn.com/a-juncus-polissor-iv/
He sells polissoirs made with sorghum (broom straw).
Enjoy.
Jim
RE: Starting my own (Wood) Burnishing experiments - Skip J. - 12-25-2017
(12-22-2017, 11:43 AM)wmickley Wrote: I don't think silica in soft rush plays much of a role. The silica is not especially high and Roubo does not list it with other mildly abrasive materials like horsetail or sharkskin. Nor does he list it with burnishers. I think polishing here means applying finishing material, not so much abrading.Thanks again Warren;
Soft rush grows here right up next to the horsetail...maybe that got into my mind...
Applying finishing material, that would make sense...
RE: Starting my own (Wood) Burnishing experiments - C. in Indy - 12-29-2017
Today presented the perfect time to use the very fast burnished beeswax finish on oak.
My wife needed a fast repair on her work-desk lamp. The original base had a cheap concrete filler in it that had disintegrated.
Here is the mid-project changeover of bases, utilizing an old bed-post that my neighbor kindly gave me a while back:
[attachment=6668]
Here is the finished base, exuding a slight beeswax aroma
[attachment=6669]
Chris
RE: Starting my own (Wood) Burnishing experiments - C. in Indy - 02-27-2018
By chance lately I saw that Lie Nielsen was offering a batch of the Don Williams polissoirs, described as using sedge. I went ahead and ordered one last week, and it came in last night.
I have good impressions of the new polissoir compared to my home-spun one:
- Fibers are amazingly compressed before being wrapped.
- Fibers seem to be finer and possibly softer (hard to tell because of the compression).
- I took the time to flow on some melted beeswax, instead of just starting burnishing right away. This probably helps; more below.
- It's bigger in the hand than mine, and easier to hold.
It works nice! I think I'm getting more of a beeswax-on-beeswax "friction flow" going now. And the tendency to scratch walnut wood appears to be gone.
Hopefully I'll post some results in the near future. I have a small piece of Kentucky Coffeetree which really needs grain-filling to look its best. The beeswax looks very promising here.
Chris