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Bubinga Finish Help

2710 Views 7 Replies 4 Participants Last post by  kywoodchopper, 
KhalTom
I made a cabinet out of Bubinga. It's fairly decent siE 36" x 34" . It's a wall cabinet to hold a bunch of glasses. Their is absolutely no chance if water or liquids, more of a display type deal.

Now im getting ready to finish it and I'd like to make it look really nice. Ive had a lot of luck with Formbys Tung Varnish. I was thinking i could just out a few coats of this on ...

Im looking for any ideas. Anyone have experience finishing bubinga?

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sunnybob
I've used a lot of bubinga in my boxes, I like wipe on poly as a shiny finish, looks amazing on side grain as you can see on this butterfly box made of walnut and bubings layers.

Not so keen on oil finishes as the wood doesn't show off its true colour so well, but that's personal preference.

http://www.routerforums.com/show-n-tell/121305-butterfly-box.html
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hawkeye10
Tom you might try shellac. You could wipe it on with a soft cotton cloth. Always do a test first no matter what you use as a top coat.
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kywoodchopper
I have made boxes including funeral urns out of bubinga. The finish that I used was 3-coats of wax-free shellac diluted 50/50 with denatured alcohol. I wait 8-hours between coats to let them cure. I do not sand between coats. I then apply Zar polyurethane diluted 50/50 with mineral spirits. I generally apply 5 or 6 coats waiting 8-hours between coats. I apply this with the blue paper shop towels that I have cut into 1/4's then folded until it is about 2" square. Hope this helps. Malcolm / Kentucky USA

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KhalTom
I have several small diver like hikes that i believe were put in by planing. Very deep. How can o fill them? Should sanding sealernfill them?

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sunnybob
I would sand the whole panel smooth. fillers almost always show up under the finished coat
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hawkeye10
kywoodchopper said:
I have made boxes including funeral urns out of bubinga. The finish that I used was 3-coats of wax-free shellac diluted 50/50 with denatured alcohol. I wait 8-hours between coats to let them cure. I do not sand between coats. I then apply Zar polyurethane diluted 50/50 with mineral spirits. I generally apply 5 or 6 coats waiting 8-hours between coats. I apply this with the blue paper shop towels that I have cut into 1/4's then folded until it is about 2" square. Hope this helps. Malcolm / Kentucky USA
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Malcolm why do you wait 8 hours for shellac to cure? I thought shellac would bond to itself therefore you may not have to wait 8 hours. I know you have a good reason I would just understand the reason.

Just trying to learn something. Thanks
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kywoodchopper
I apply shellac the same way I do with all finishes using the blue paper shop towels. If I don't wait several hours between coats of shellac to cure the first coat becomes gummy when applying the next coat. On oily woods I have found that if I wait several hours I don't have that problem. On all other woods (cherry, walnut, maple) I generally wait an hour or so between coats.
Malcolm / Kentucky USA
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