Thread: Blackwood scales

Has anyone ever used African blackwood for scales? Does it need to be finished with anything and if so what will adhere to it. It seems to be an oily wood, not to mention hard as heck. When I tried to use rubber cement to put them together to work on the scales it laughed at it and then fell apart. Any ideas?

Bob

Sounds kind of similar to Ebony to me. Try double sided duck tape to hold it together. Or you could use those black paper clips that hold large stacks of paper. As for finishing it, I won't comment since I've never used it.

There are a few ways of approaching oily wood...

1. Polish it as-is. It doesn't "need" a finish coat since it's already hard and water resistant.
2. Wipe the wood with acetone right before applying whatever finish you want, this will strip away the oil on the surface and prepare it for whatever you had in mind. Water based stains and coatings may be the only exception here, since regardless of prep, they hate oily wood.
3. Use a coat or 2 of de-waxed shellac, then apply your finish (poly, varnish, CA...)

Personally, I would combine 2 and 3. Prep the wood with acetone or alcohol, apply a light coat of shellac (1 lb mix should do for the first coat). Then I would lightly sand with steel wool and apply a second coat (here the weight of the shellac mix would depend on the porosity of the wood, 1lb for relatively uniform and pore free wood, 2 lb for porous wood). Following this my preference is polyurethane. For a nice glossy finish, apply 3 coats of poly, then lightly sand with 400 grit paper or 00 steel wool to knock down the bumps, polish with buffing compound, then finally polishing compound or micromesh to bring back the gloss.

Sounds complicated, but the results are stunning. I've done this more than once on furniture and a few other things and I find it gives a very nice, professional look (not to mention very durable and protective).

Originally Posted by floppyshoes

Personally, I would combine 2 and 3.

Sounds complicated, but the results are stunning. I've done this more than once on furniture and a few other things and I find it gives a very nice, professional look (not to mention very durable and protective).

I'll give it a try. I did find out that something called "Tacky glue" surprisingly kept the scales together while I sanded and filed and sanded......
A drop of that on each end and in the middle plus an 8" spring clamp for a day or so worked out. Of course I almost couldn't get them apart so I will forgo the middle drop from now on.
Thanks for the info, when I get this one done I'll post it in the resto section. Currently the blade is visiting a friends brass tumbler, hopefully getting real purty .


Bob

If you have spacer material Use Rubber cement