Rubbing back and polishing surfaces

[ozwinner]

Shame about rusty tin. I wanted to have a look.

Arron

Seems more people love and smut than rustytin.

Al

[sea dragon]

I am intrigued that more people/ anyone has not referred to the use of hot air as an aid in finishing.
I have a present preference for Tung oil, put on very lightly and then burnished to give a matt finish. A hot air gun seems to help before the final series of sandings.
Also, at an earlier stage, it can help get the bubbles out of a polyurethane finish, in my experience. Do others have a like percerpetion?

[bucket1]

I think for a newbie to polishing it would be hard to go past some of Neils shellac followed by some EEE then some trad wax. Just need to brush on a few coats with a very light sand between each one. When dry use some EEE to cut back suface. Gloss it up with some trad wax and it will look like youve been doing it for years.

[Arron]

thanks Bucket, that is concise and just what I wanted. Which of Neils shellacs do you recommend ?

Arron

[bucket1]

The ready mixed French Polish would be the easiest for you I think. If you are unsure of how you are going to go with your polishing then I would suggest practicing on a scrap first as it is so dissapointing to mess up your woodworking with a crap finish. I would also suggest you thin the polish a little as this will help make it much easier to get a fairly even coat. 3 or 4 coats should be plenty. Dont panic if it looks a little streaky or uneven after applying the polish. As long as you brushed a fairly even coat all over it will even out when cut back with the EEE. Once waxed it will look and feel amazing.
Dont be put off by thinking that using shellac is only for the experts. Once you get the hang of it, its the easiest polish to use. Especially on small items.
One more thing to remember when brushing it on is that it is not paint and will not behave like paint especially if it is warm. It will build if you keep going over an area unlike paint which will spread.
Good luck and hope you can post some pictures of your work.