what are the "worst" woods when using polyurethan ?
- Thread starter erriep
- Start date
It all depends on what sealer you are using. If not using a good sealer then cocobolo and bois-d-rose are notorious. They give much trouble even with a good sealer.
Dick
Dick beat me to the answer about the sealer. So instead of worrying about what reactions the wood will have to urethane, go ahead and seal all woods before using urethane. You will have to adjust your sealing method a little for various woods. Putting too thick of a sealer on Cocobolo right off the bat may cause color to bleed up into the sealer. So a very thin coat of sealer applied first and let dry and then follow that with a heavier coat is best on oily woods. When applying the very thin coat by hand do not rub it around, just spread it on and leave it alone or you might pick up some color and smear the cue. If spraying a seal coat just mist the cue and not put enough to allow it to flow out. Here is how to know in advance what you are dealing with. While the cue is a good bit oversized rub a little sealer on the cue and see how it reacts. Then wipe it off and see how much color is on the paper towel. If there is no color on the towel or you only have a very slight tint then it is in the normal range for exotic woods. If it has a lot of color then you know you have to use the thin seal first method. There are other tricks to sealing oily woods that others can add to this, but I just gave the basics.
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oily woods
Kent Davis (KD CUES) gave me a hunk of coco burl several months ago to see if
I could seal it as he could not. I have probably a dozen types of sealer, including CA, and after many attempts have not sealed it yet. First time I
have run across a piece of wood that defies all attempts at being tamed.
Kent Davis (KD CUES) gave me a hunk of coco burl several months ago to see if
I could seal it as he could not. I have probably a dozen types of sealer, including CA, and after many attempts have not sealed it yet. First time I
have run across a piece of wood that defies all attempts at being tamed.
do you have an idea why this burl defies the atempts ?
BDR as Dick mentioned.
I once had a brazilian rosewood that bled like Chuck Wepner.
I had to use thin CA then medium CA then sand that level , more cleaning. Few more coats then epoxy coat.
I once had a brazilian rosewood that bled like Chuck Wepner.
I had to use thin CA then medium CA then sand that level , more cleaning. Few more coats then epoxy coat.
Hi,
I finish with a Poly Auto.
On all woods at final dimension, I use deep penetration lacquer sanding sealer or shellack. Mostly Deft these days but shellack works good too. Then sand it off with 220 while spinning until 90% of the sealer is not visible on the surface.
Then sand in the X direction without spinning using 320 with 100 psi air. When all of the lacquer tell tales are gone and the cue is smooth, I blow with air and then apply my epoxy substrate in the clean room.
This methods works well with all wood combos and veneers without cross contamination and with the Poly Finish coats.
Good Luck,
Rick
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Did you try Smiths penetrating epoxy?
I made a set of pistol grips once that nothing would dry once applied
so i had my dad try he was a gunsmith for 50 years and ...
long story short try wiping with acetone and putting out in sunshine all day
What is the moisture content on the cue? Sounds like a piece of wet coco.
Hi,
I was going to suggest that also but if there is veneers involved that may be a problem. When I was doing UV there was definitely a problem with the some cocobolo.
I use only kiln dried wood on 99% of my cues for the past 5 years and have not seen any sealing problems even with the real red Cocobolo. I wonder if the drying process effects the oil problem when sealing.
I also wonder if the piece he had was sealed in wax and was not seasoned long enough.
Rick
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For those heavy oiled woods like Cocobolo, I like using laquer thinner, it may take many paper towels, use a fresh paper towel with every wipe, The idea is to get rid of as much top oil as you can, then use 207, a fairly heavy coat then an hour later do another one, you'll see it absorb into the wood, let dry completely, a full day, then sand it off and repeat with 207 again, it won't take as much this time, after it dries completely, sand with 320, (about 80 percent off) scuff with #2 steel wood and wipe with laquer thinner, start spraying. Hope this helps.
Good post.
Wiping any oily wood with any solvent that will dissolve the oils will also contaminate any adjaxcent lighter colored woods or rings so be careful.
If you want a material that will seal any oily wood you can use Dupont 13225S Clear Urethane sealer filler. It is a 4:1 mix catalized urethane air dried material with a 30 minute pot life. Axon products 909 /910 Koa wood sealer is great but hard to get and has a short shelf life. These will come in gallon or larger quantities for a few hundred dollars but they do work.
If you want a material that will seal any oily wood you can use Dupont 13225S Clear Urethane sealer filler. It is a 4:1 mix catalized urethane air dried material with a 30 minute pot life. Axon products 909 /910 Koa wood sealer is great but hard to get and has a short shelf life. These will come in gallon or larger quantities for a few hundred dollars but they do work.
An old retired GREAT cue maker told me to soak oily wood in acetone until the acetone turns color. Then pour it out & pour in clean acetone, and repeat until the acetone no longer turns color. He swears it not only keeps the wood from bleeding color onto other woods, but it also stabilizes the wood and makes it glue better. I haven't tried it, mostly because acetone is too expensive to waste like that and I haven't had any incurable issues with oily woods that required such measures. But in the case of coco burl, i'd certainly give it a shot if nothing else works. Of course this must be done BEFORE the wood becomes a cue. I believe the guy. It makes sense. He built high end cues for a LONG time, and wouldn't lie to me about this trick. He said it was how he was able to build stable cues for years without having to have a stock pile of old, aging wood. He could buy a piece of wood, treat it with acetone, and when the acetone dried (which was quick), the wood was ready to use. He swore any wood was as clean & easy to use as maple. Someday i'll try it.