finishing brazilian rosewood

leonard Shapiro

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Oct 13, 2001, 11:55:14 PM10/13/01

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I Just finished a small box that I made of Brazilian rosewood,I have never
used this wood before and have no idea on how to finish it. My two main
questions are when sanding how fine a paper should I use(I have gone to 220
grit), and what type of finish is used best on rosewood(oil, poly, etc.)

Len

Lyn J. Mangiameli

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Oct 14, 2001, 12:46:11 AM10/14/01

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There are several finishes that are possible, but if it were mine I would sand
out to at least 800, buff with Tripoli to further smooth and slightly fill the
pores and leave it like that. If I really wanted a greater shine, I would buff
with pure caranauba. By buff I mean a real buffer with a system like the Beal
buffing System or the Oneway system. I find rosewood, cocobolo, blackwood and
the like (basically the Dalbergia genus) to look best very finely sanded and
with little finish. The natural oils in the Rosewood will do a fine job
imparting shine if allowed to rise to the surface naturally.

If you really want a finish gunstock oil, pure tung oil, polymerized tung oil
cut with mineral spirits, and shellac are all likely to work. Herman Miller,
makers of the famous Eames chairs (which used to be out of Brazilian rosewood)
recommends gun stock oil. If I were oiling, I would probably chose a one third
mineral spirits/two thirds polymerized tung oit mix (the polymerized tung oil
is available from Lee Valley. Keep in mind that the rosewood's natural oils
will often come to the surface and retard the drying of any applied oils,
which is why I would use a faster drying polymerized tung oil instead of pure
tung oil. For those who aren't willing to sand to really fine grits and want
somewhat of a surface finish, Shellac will work. Other finishes are possible,
but I'd avoid water based ones due to the rosewoods natural oils.

As always, take some scraps and try out the finishes you are considering
before applying them to your box. If possible, wait a couple of weeks before
judging them, as this will give the natural oils a chance to work to the
wood's surface and give you a better idea how they will interact with the
finish.

Lyn

tai fu

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Oct 14, 2001, 2:39:30 AM10/14/01

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where do you get brazillian rosewood?

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Steve Knight

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Oct 14, 2001, 1:37:51 PM10/14/01

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On Sun, 14 Oct 2001 01:39:30 -0500, "tai fu" <ta...@wt.net> wrote:

>where do you get brazillian rosewood?

my local woodcrafters has it it is very expensive. usually over 60.00 a bf for
junky pieces.
but be warned the wood is nasty to work with the dusk can really get you good.

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leonard Shapiro

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Oct 15, 2001, 12:09:41 AM10/15/01

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I get it at a woodcraft store
"tai fu" <ta...@wt.net> wrote in message
news:9qbcb2$fh4$1...@geraldo.cc.utexas.edu...

Don Levey

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Oct 17, 2001, 10:41:39 AM10/17/01

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I can second this one.
I'm normally not very sensitive to dust, but just a brief sanding of a
rosewood fingerboard for the soon-to-be-completed guitar and I was
hacking up lung for three days. Masks, air scrubbers, and good
ventilation from now on.
-Don

dougwar...@gmail.com

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Dec 9, 2012, 2:36:24 AM12/9/12

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Bump ! LOL. I get it in my front yard(Costa Rica) ! Had an old 100 footer blow down last year. I've got two 6 foot tall stacks of 16 to 30 inch wide planks, two inches thick. Just built a frame for my belt sander out of some. It's like steel ! Wear a mask and sand outside.I take it to 1000 grit applying teak oil the last several strokes, then buff with a cloth. Let it dry a week and you're good.

Ed Pawlowski

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Dec 9, 2012, 7:45:16 AM12/9/12

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On Sat, 8 Dec 2012 23:36:24 -0800 (PST), dougwar...@gmail.com
wrote:

>On Saturday, October 13, 2001 9:55:22 PM UTC-6, leonard Shapiro wrote:
>> I Just finished a small box that I made of Brazilian rosewood,I have never
>> used this wood before and have no idea on how to finish it. My two main
>> questions are when sanding how fine a paper should I use(I have gone to 220
>> grit), and what type of finish is used best on rosewood(oil, poly, etc.)
>>
>> Len

Don't go past 220 or the primer won't hold as well.

Larry Jaques

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Dec 9, 2012, 9:01:21 AM12/9/12

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On Sat, 8 Dec 2012 23:36:24 -0800 (PST), dougwar...@gmail.com
wrote:

OH, how you suck, Doug! Congrats on the (literal) windfall.

--
...in order that a man may be happy, it is
necessary that he should not only be capable
of his work, but a good judge of his work.
-- John Ruskin

emmit...@gmail.com

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May 30, 2013, 5:24:38 PM5/30/13

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Connecticut River Lumber http://www.ctriverlumberco.com/ currently has some 8/4 boards in various lengths, typically 4-5" wide, available at very reasonable prices. Check with John Stangel (jsta...@ctriverlumberco.com) for price and availability.

handicraf...@gmail.com

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Sep 23, 2015, 1:28:36 AM9/23/15

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Hi Len,
You Should used four paper to finish the box. I am the manufacturer of wooden products(waseemhandicrafts or whcommerce) and do this job many time. You should used 80 then ,150 then ,220 then ,340. You can check the boxes in our website
Waseem Asgar
http://whcommerce.com / http://waseemhandicrafts.com

Leon

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Sep 23, 2015, 9:44:14 AM9/23/15

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Hopefully he got an answer 14 years before yours. ;~)

John McCoy

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Sep 23, 2015, 3:18:49 PM9/23/15

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handicraf...@gmail.com wrote in
news:d4fbef26-4e20-4486...@googlegroups.com:

Hi Waseem,

Why are you answering a question from 2001?

John