Can't quite get the finish right!

[andrewsd]

You can apply shellac over the oil with no problem. If it has dried and you have sanded back, have a go with white polish and a soft rubber. If you don't like the result, it is easy to take the polish off with metho (which is one of the many virtues of using shellac). Apply several coats and you should end up with a nice result. Take your time and don't be afraid of the polishing process. Just ensure that you glide on with the rubber a few inches in from the edge and come back to the edge then glide forward to the opposite edge and off. You start the stroke a few inches in and then glide back before completing the stroke to the opposite edge so as to avoid runs which will occur if you try starting the stroke from an edge. Come back from the opposite edge with your next stroke in the same fashion, overlapping your first stroke by about a third of its width. Complete the surface in this fashion.

Good luck.

[eurostat]

Ive cleaned up the job with metho to remove as much of the previous white oil as possible,steel wooled and sanded back with 1200.Looks a lot better than the burnt brown look the Tung oil gave me,but i dont think im going to be able to get back to the honey colour unfortunately.So now its decision time again.Back to the low gloss effect i got originally with the White Oil or try the Poly finish.Perhaps even the Ubeaut mentioned earlier.
I have a small piece of similiar timber i can test on first to see how my technique will stand up,but i wanted to ask,What do you mean by using a rubber? lol, I'm afraid i am a newbie and am not familiar with this term/equipment in this context?

[andrewsd]

Re the colour: Try using wet and dry with turps to take out as much of the oil as possible and see if that gets you close to the colour you want.

Re the shine: You should be able to get a brilliant shine with white polish (not oil). If you are unsure how fresh your polish is, buy some and make it up - UBeaut will be happy to sell you some already made up, if you would prefer, and they also carry the flake. Make sure you aren't using de-waxed white polish because this can be tricky for beginners. You could use orange polish but this may not be to your colour preference, so do a test first.

Application: A polisher's rubber is basically a wad of cotton wadding wrapped in a piece of material such as linen (or other materials, depending on the job you are doing). There is a lot of technique that goes into full French polishing, so I wouldn't try that unless you want to find someone who knows what they are doing and have them show you the ropes. A good alternative is to use a "soft rubber", which is basically the same type of rubber tied a little less tightly (although some like it as firm as the normal french rubber). UBeaut have a good handbook that is well worth buying if you want to learn a bit about polishing and finishing (actually, it is as good as written material gets on the subject for beginners).

If you want an easier approach, brush the polish on with a brush called a "polisher's mop". It is worth buying one of these. Apply as described for the rubber (that is, start a few inches in from the edge - never come straight onto an edge or you will have runs and drips - and overlap your stroke). When you have the build you like, you can scuff it back lightly (very, very lightly!) and then apply a final coat to finish. If it is a bit to shiny, you can use 0000 steel wool to apply some good wax (Ubeaut again do a good one) and buff off. I think you will be surprised at how good a result you achieve.

Good luck.

[munruben]

If you are using Miinwax you can use it straight from the can

[eurostat]

Andrew,ive just done the turps on the timber and it seems to have pulled a little more of the oil colouring out of the timber.Thanks for that tip,and all the info on rubbers!
Munruben,ive got a tub of u'Beaut Traditional Wax polish in neutral.Is that the same sort of thing you are talking about as Miniwax ?