exotic wood finish

[dale grible]

since i'm fairly new to woodworking i have a couple of questions...

i'm starting turning wood..mostly pepper mills.

-what is the best way to finish exotic woods? like...zebrawood ,bocote , ebony ,
cocobolo , splated curly maple , bloodwood ,purple heart , snake wood....etc

do you...

after sanding..do you seal the wood?? .......polishing wood??? what type of wood can and can't polish?? ...and what do you use to polish wood????
do you stain??? do you need a special stain or use what ever is in store??

how do you make a piece look like glass.....or flat

i know it's alot of questions.....is there a site , where it's all explained???

[PAH1]

Hi

Go to the bottom of the page till you see "ubeaut enterprises". That has a mile of information and gives a link to a book that has more information in it than many can digest.

For non glassy oiled finishes tryorganoil (http://www.organoil.com.au)

If you want plastic type finishes, then there are a wide variety of PU and NC type spray on/ pour on finishes out there. I can't help you there as I do not use them, being a hobbyiest I can spend the time to get a good finish without having to worry about cost vs time.

With all finishes the best thing that you can do is to experiment, my experience is with australian wood (this is an aussie page) and although that would be exotic to you I have not finished any of the timbers that you have listed with the exception of purple heart assuming you mean peltogyne. Purple heart takes the ubeaut shellawax finish like a dream.

[dale grible]

ok . thanx dude for the advice!