Patching Dings/Dents under Shellawax?

[Mooncabbage]

Hey all!

I'm in the middle of restoring/upcycling an old handsaw, and I read somewhere that Shellawax is a very good and durable finish for the handles. After stripping the finish and shaping the handle, I'm left with quite a few small dings and dents, testament to it's former life. I tried the old wet rag/iron trick, which lifted a few, and reduced the severity of most, but there are still a good number of pin holes I want to take care of. Since Shellawax is somewhat fussy about what you put under the finish, hopefully one of you wonderful people can let me know if you've had any success patching under it, and what you used.

Also, I don't have a swansdown mop, or any mop at all really, and was planning on just rubbing it in by hand. For that sort of application, what's more suitable, the liquid Shellawax, or the cream?

[Xanthorrhoeas]

Hi, Firstly an admission, I've never used Shellawax, mostly because I have only recently begun woodturning (do intend to try it soon though). Shellawax was developed for woodturners, to use on the lathe. However, I have made lots of furniture and other objects and have finished them with shellac and wax. I would recommend that you look at using UBeaut's Hard shellac - it crosslinks and become water and heat resistant - and then follow that with their Traditional Wax (or a good quality black furniture wax if the colour of the timber requires it).

Now, as to preparation before finishing. Very old dings and dents can have become an integral part of the item - its history, patina etc. and may not respond. However, boiling water and steam can do miracles on damaged wood. For flat surfaces I use a cheapo $12 KMart steam iron. I use the spray mode first then the shot of steam mode. If all else fails I pour boiling water on the timber. The damage that is left after that I accept as part of its history.

Make sure it is very dry before you finish it with Hard Shellac, cut it back with 0000 steel wool then wax and polish with trad wax or a good antique furniture wax if you need the black wax colour.

Hope this helps

David

[Mooncabbage]

There's not much patina left after my sanding/reshaping, and tbh I'm not that bothered, since it wasn't a saw of any particular interest. I have tried steaming with the iron as I mentioned, but not boiling water.

Cream Shellawax is made with uBeaut Hard Shellac anyway, according to the website, so I'll give that one a go. As you say, if I can't get every ding out, it's just going to add some story to the piece. The screws didn't polish up perfectly, and I'm totally fined with that anyway. Although I do need to find a way to protect them from rusting/tarnishing instantly.

Cheap Kmart products have done wonders for off label appliance uses! You can get a cheapo toaster oven rigged up to reflow solder on circuit boards, melt waxes and such with the cheap induction heating plates.... all sorts of things I would never do with the missus' good kitchen stuff. Atleast, not something you can do twice!