Burnishing with Shavings?
I just recently read that someone did this on a bowl. Seems the person sanded through all the grits of sand paper and then burnished it with wood shavings. This article just stated he used this process but didn't explain the benefits of burnishing. Has anyone tried this? If so what are the advantages? I am very curious.
SQ
Happiness is wood chips flying!
Views: 91
Replies to This Discussion
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Site HostPermalink Reply by Charles Nicholls on -
I am not exactly clear on the burnishing myself but it seems to act as a buffing to bring out the shine better, and as you mentioned in our conversation, may also show imperfactions in the tooling of the item (may show scratches better.). Unfortunately in my case, until recently, my shavings have been too fine to use for that.
Charles
nicholls61@att.net
http://www.nichollswoodworks.com
This website is new so it doesn't have much to it yet but you are welcome to take a look :)
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Master CarpenterPermalink Reply by SQ on -
I have an excess of wood shaving. More than you or I could use in a life time for burnishing. Would be happy to COD you a truck load.
Thinking I should hang a shingle: Burnishing supplies available. Reasonably priced. Inquire within. lol SQ
Charles Nicholls said:I am not exactly clear on the burnishing myself but it seems to act as a buffing to bring out the shine better, and as you mentioned in our conversation, may also show imperfactions in the tooling of the item (may show scratches better.). Unfortunately in my case, until recently, my shavings have been too fine to use for that.
Charles
nicholls61@att.net
http://www.nichollswoodworks.com
This website is new so it doesn't have much to it yet but you are welcome to take a look :)Happiness is wood chips flying!
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Site HostPermalink Reply by Ron Dudelston on -
Sq, I have never burnished with shavings but I have burnished with a brown paper bag.
Ron Dudelston
Above and Beyond WoodWorks
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Site HostPermalink Reply by Charles Nicholls on -
Thats a great dea Ron thanks it's wood after all.
No thanks Susie lol my landlord may not like that too much lol
Charles
nicholls61@att.net
http://www.nichollswoodworks.com
This website is new so it doesn't have much to it yet but you are welcome to take a look :)
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Forum HostPermalink Reply by Lewis Kauffman on -
Burnishing is an excellent way to add that finishing touch after sanding. If you have some of those micro mesh pads, you can try a little experiment. Sand thru the grits you usually use (12000 ?) then try stopping at about 400 or 800 and then burnish with the project shavings. I find there is very little difference in the end result, thus saving a lot of money on those finer grits. Of course, results vary from species to species but all in all the burnishing with shavings really works well and the price is right!
Ron's suggestion of the brown paper bag is also a good one! Especially the price!!
Lew-
Time traveler. Purveyor of the world's finest custom rolling pins!
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JourneymanPermalink Reply by Russell Brechlin on -
SQ,
Burnishing is simply heating up the wood surface, which causes the pores to close, creating a high gloss sheen. It can be accomplished with just about anything; wood shavings, paper. cardboard, cotton cloth. There are some sites on the web that explain it better than i can,
russ
No greater Loves than God, Family, Friends, country, the sight of flying chips and the smell of saw dust.
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Master CarpenterPermalink Reply by SQ on -
Lew,
Excellent idea! I will try it. Thanks.
SQ
Lewis Kauffman said:Burnishing is an excellent way to add that finishing touch after sanding. If you have some of those micro mesh pads, you can try a little experiment. Sand thru the grits you usually use (12000 ?) then try stopping at about 400 or 800 and then burnish with the project shavings. I find there is very little difference in the end result, thus saving a lot of money on those finer grits. Of course, results vary from species to species but all in all the burnishing with shavings really works well and the price is right!
Ron's suggestion of the brown paper bag is also a good one! Especially the price!!
Lew-
Time traveler. Purveyor of the world's finest custom rolling pins!Happiness is wood chips flying!
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Master CarpenterPermalink Reply by SQ on -
Russell,
Thinking I might have to add this step to the bowl process. Thanks for the information.
SQ
Russell Brechlin said:SQ,
Burnishing is simply heating up the wood surface, which causes the pores to close, creating a high gloss sheen. It can be accomplished with just about anything; wood shavings, paper. cardboard, cotton cloth. There are some sites on the web that explain it better than i can,
russ
No greater Loves than God, Family, Friends, country, the sight of flying chips and the smell of saw dust.
Happiness is wood chips flying!
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CarpenterPermalink Reply by Arlin Eastman on -
Sue
It seems Russell has already said what I have done before is use cardboard box pieces.
Arlin
Man it sure is nice to be making replys again
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CarpenterPermalink Reply by Harry Brink on -
Good to hear from you too, Arlin!
Harry Brink
Bulldog Woodworking
Montana
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Site AdminPermalink Reply by John Moody on -
I have used the shaving on a bowl to burnish with.
You can even burnish with the sand paper. As the paper loads up with dust it will do some of the same affect.
John Moody
John Moody Woodworks
http://www.johnmoodywoodworks.com
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JourneymanPermalink Reply by Cliff on -
The advantage is you get a shiny surface.
They are sort of similar between wood and metal What happens in wood is not at all what happens in metal and I believe that the the word is a metal working term that may not be appropriate to wood. Wiki has a pretty good working definition.
In terms of look and feel burnishing might seem pretty much the same whether it's metal work or wood work. The superficial effect that things come off with a polished look. In steel and copper based metals Burnishing usually affects the first couple of thousandths of metal, work hardening it as well as aligning the crystalline grain structure and closes up surface scratches by rolling them into each other.
In all metals, whether they can be work hardened or not, burnishing is not a stock removal process but a material reforming process.
In wood I believe much of what is going on is abrasive. But there may be more.
Abrasion is less complicated than burnishing. But it makes for a shinier surface & closes up surface scratches. .
I am unsure whether the word burnishing is the best word to use for the act of of substituting saw shavings for sand paper in woodworking, because of the stark disparities between what is actually happening in the material when one burnishes metal as opposed to wood.
But people like the word. I think polishing might be the better word. It might also be insufficient.
Rubbing saw shavings on a wood surface at high speed on a lathe produces heat (if one rubs hard that is). Sufficient highly localized Heat may loosen the lignin bonds in the wood fibers near the surface allowing them to be bent over in one direction and then when the lignin re-establishes itself to remain there permanently thus giving the surface a sheen that might refract light in a unique way.
A very different process from metal burnishing but something much more than polishing
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