Starting my own (Wood) Burnishing experiments

[Skip J.]

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????

[Admiral]

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!

[wmickley]

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????

The rush used by Roubo and mentioned in Felibien (1667) is Juncus effusus, or a closely related species. Soft rush would be right.

[Skip J.]

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.

[wmickley]

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.

[Admiral]

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..... 

[Jim Waldron]

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

[Skip J.]

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...

[C. in Indy]

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:

   


Here is the finished base, exuding a slight beeswax aroma

   



Chris

[C. in Indy]

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