Starting my own (Wood) Burnishing experiments

[C. in Indy]

Here is another quick experiment on a scrap elm box project.

After overall quality planing of this red elm, the left portion is now burnished with an antler-tip (about 10 seconds of work, no dust, and the scribe line of the dovetail markout is still sharp):

   


After the raw burnishing, wax is applied and buffed across the whole board.  Again the burnished parts feels smoother, harder, looks nicer:

   

[Timberwolf]

Here is another quick experiment on a scrap elm box project.

After overall quality planing of this red elm, the left portion is now burnished with an antler-tip (about 10 seconds of work, no dust, and the scribe line of the dovetail markout is still sharp):




After the raw burnishing, wax is applied and buffed across the whole board.  Again the burnished parts feels smoother, harder, looks nicer:

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I just did a similar experiment on one half of the lid on a small poplar box..I used a length of 5/8" diameter Delrin rod as the burnisher and produced a very noticeable polished surface that you can feel..The wood fibers are compressed and polished..I repeated the action using a polished piece of steel..the steel produced  a surface that was not as smooth as with the delrin rod..but with either burnisher, the smoothest, most polished surface was obtained by stroking the surface WITH the grain. That seemed to be the most important factor.

[hbmcc]

Years ago, we used horn to 'polish' beach wood for primitive hanging decorations. Bone process is the shortcut to hand-worn and polished surfaces. Think old stair railings. I don't have a Don's Barn polissour but bet the action is similar. 

Edit: This reminds me of using a hand-smooth hickory handled hammer in the rain. Rough finish. Then, shortly after drying, back to smooth.

[C. in Indy]

Here are some more 'finish-along' photos and commentary...

After a lot of delay and mistakes I assembled and glued the box, brought it to the living room to show my wife the antler-tip and 'boning' technique.  This is red elm and here it's a shiny but maybe pinkish tone.  Note the Indiana-made coffee table has some sort of beautiful filled & stained elm finish (not my work; I'm envious):

   


I was worried that the burnished finish on my box would not hold any coating.  I hit it slightly with 1500-grit paper and that even dulled it a bit.  But it took very kindly to a layer of Tru-Oil.  Even the end-grains of the dovetails, which were also bone-burnished, darkened nicely.   Beside the new box is the future sliding lid I will be using on it.  This future lid is red-Oak and it is working perfectly shiny right off the plane, so I don't think it will need burnishing like the red-Elm did:

   


More later!
Chris

[C. in Indy]

The top slab is now fitted.  A little curlicue of marquetry shaving sitting there for fun...
I got a lot of inspiration from the several James Price entries on www.wkfinetools.com; on one of those he mentioned burnishing his boxes with a smooth stone.   Here is the latest of his several:
http://contrib2.wkfinetools.com/priceJ/a...Box-01.asp

   


Chris

[hbmcc]

The top slab is now fitted.  A little curlicue of marquetry shaving sitting there for fun...
I got a lot of inspiration from the several James Price entries on www.wkfinetools.com; on one of those he mentioned burnishing his boxes with a smooth stone.   Here is the latest of his several:
http://contrib2.wkfinetools.com/priceJ/a...Box-01.asp




Chris

Your box does not look like "scrap" to me!  Very nice piece.

[C. in Indy]

Well, I had about 20 minutes today to run another experiment, before all the holiday chaos is underway.   It was time to make and try a burnishing "polissoir", which has been featured in some Popular Woodworking and Don Williams articles.

A whisk broom was sacrificed and bound up with some wire-ties (not the best friction tie for straw, but OK for today):

   


I did minimal preparation as far as a 'wax dip'; I just got the brush a little warm and distributed some beeswax on it.
In short order I was able to compare waxing results, and the new polissoir method (which semi-heats and flows solid beeswax via friction) was a winner!  No solvent fumes, a meaningful improvement in grain-filling, and a super lovely finish.  About the only bad thing that happened was my brush slightly scratching the walnut piece during certain (not quite with the grain) strokes.  The other harder woods got no scratches.

Here are 3 segments done with a paste wax and conventional buffing:

   


Here are 3 adjacent segments done with the quick-turn polissoir and everyday beeswax.  They are indeed joyful to behold and hold:

   


Happy Woodworking,
Chris

[bandit571]

One other thing to try....I used to use a frshly cut piece of glass, instead of fine sandpaper.   It can also be cut to match a profile that needed  smoothed out.   I last used the glass on a handle for the D-112 I rehabbed....just a thought..


BTW...it is known as "Glass-papered"   Back when using shark skin  was costing too many coins.....

[wmickley]

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.

[Chuck Nickerson]

One other thing to try....I used to use a frshly cut piece of glass, instead of fine sandpaper.   It can also be cut to match a profile that needed  smoothed out.   I last used the glass on a handle for the D-112 I rehabbed....just a thought..

I just rehabbed and glass and stone cutting band saw. Thanks to this comment I now have another use for it: burnishing profiles.