finishing tasie myrtle

[Bakes]

Guys,

I have some tassie myrtle which i am trying to find a finish which will enhance the colour. I have tested hard shellac topped by traditional wax and tried the wax on its own. Both finishes are sending the myrtle a shade of brown, not what I am after. I have some myrtle veneer which is much pinker than the myrtle timber i have. Does anyone have some suggestions.

Cheers,

Bakes

[ozwinner]

Maybe try blonde shellac which is almost clear.
Available from the sponsers or this forum. And good too.

Al

[Bakes]

Ozwinner,

I have had what my wife calls a hua moment, head up Ar@#, it was the white shellac i tried not hard shellac. I have used the white shellac on silky oak and it did exactly as advertised, but with the myrtle it doesn't.

Cheers,

Bakes

[Gumby]

What is it for ? That would also have a bearing on the finish. I watch Woodworks on Fox a fair bit and David Marks just uses tung oil for almost everything.

Danish oil would be worth a shot.

[ozwinner]

Ozwinner,

I have had what my wife calls a hua moment, head up Ar@#, it was the white shellac i tried not hard shellac. I have used the white shellac on silky oak and it did exactly as advertised, but with the myrtle it doesn't.

Cheers,

Bakes

What did it do to myrtle?

Ill have to try some tomorrow.

Al :confused:

[BobR]

I have used Danish Oil then followed by wax. The timber was sanded up to 600 if I remember right. The oil was buffed following each of the two coats as was the wax. the finish was like glass. The pink colour of the myrtle was darkened but I was very satisfied with the finish. Am currently working on another myrtle project - not as pink as the last lot of timber, and plan to use the same finish.

[KevM]

I have some tassie myrtle which i am trying to find a finish which will enhance the colour. I have tested hard shellac topped by traditional wax and tried the wax on its own. Both finishes are sending the myrtle a shade of brown, not what I am after. I have some myrtle veneer which is much pinker than the myrtle timber i have. Does anyone have some suggestions.

Bakes,
I built a vanity for the ensuite from myrtle and used Wattyl stylwood (a pre-catalysed nitrocellulose lacquer), it did not seem to alter the colour of the timber at the time.

Myrtle can come in a wide range of colours from rich red (very little of this will be appearing on the market in the future as the main source has now been locked away) through to pinks and then to light brown/straw type colours. Continued exposure to light will cause the red/pink colours to fade taking away the original strong colouring.

Kev M

[Pat]

So is the concenses' of the more knowledgable members of the finishing tribe, that for Tassie Myrtle - oil + wax is good enough? I do not want to play with shallac as this is for a burl and I would like the colours to come out unchanged.

I am very finish challanged!

[reeves]

So is the concenses' of the more knowledgable members of the finishing tribe, that for Tassie Myrtle - oil + wax is good enough? I do not want to play with shallac as this is for a burl and I would like the colours to come out unchanged.

I am very finish challanged!

i usually try the straight Organoil first, its tung and citrus, if u get the wet sanding right it comes to very nice hard smooth finish, u can then wax over it if u need to or its easy to remove by sanding if u dont like it.

Its clear and doesnt darken the wood much...

as for the challenge, keep it simple, put some elbow into it and dont do anything that will make it harder for u to achieve yr goal. Always do some test pieces or test finishes to see if its coming out how u want....

have fun with the Myrtle..

cheeeeeeers
john

[mag]

Bakes,

I ahve made quite a few items from Myrtle over the years and have tried a number of finishes.

I used Danish oil predominatley before I started spraying with Stylewood.

I know only use Stylwood as it seems to keep the original colours of Myrtke, whiel the oil tends to darken and 'Muddy' the couours.

[Pat]

Mag -"Stylewood" - where do you get it???

[mag]

Pat,

It is a wattyl Lacquer product.

(looking back at the post I think I should do something about my typing.)

[Pat]

Mag, typo's are this forum's greatest sport - look to the master - Gumby!

[ernknot]

I have used Danish Oil rubbed in with 400 grit emmery paper ( wet and dry) on a coffee table. Came up very nice.

[rsser]

Yep, like the sages above, I've found that myrtle varies a lot in its native colour, and that UV will often darken it a bit (but not as much as other timbers).

I've also found that oil-based finishes will darken the colour but also often increase the contrast and so bring out the figure.

My solution to darkening is to seal with a n/c sanding sealer and then finish with wax. With Huon eg. this reduces the yellowing significantly compared with other finishes.