Steel Wool

[Jak Kelly]

Been playing around with the lathe a lot, get home at night do a few things around the house then I'm off to the garage. Still just turning bottle stoppers, but my sanding process so far has been 80gr + 320gr + 500gr then 2 coats of Danish Oil. The other night I was wondering if the steel wool might add some polish to it, if I used it after the 500gr and it does. I was really impressed, easy enough to use.

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[Scott Hackler]

Steel wool is good at polishing, but be careful with more porous types of wood and steel wool as some time the steel wool will embed small particles in the wood pores and you wont see them until they gather moisture and start rusting!

[Don Nicholas]

Use small pieces of s/w, as the material will get wound around the turning and possibly pulling your fingers into the turning. BE CAREFULL

[Guy Belleman]

Try micro-mesh, it will provide the finer polishing you are seeking. On my small projects with wood that is hard enough to benefits from fine sanding, I use sandpaper (80 if needed, 120, 180, 240, 320, 480, 600, 800, 1200) that I have cut into small sheets and put into order in a ziplock sandwich bag. Then the micro-mesh, which proceeds with 1500 to 12,000. Provides a superbly smooth and gleaming surface. Then seal the surface with shellac, dry overnight, and lightly re-sand before proceeding to top finish. Makes for a durable, shiny, and lasting coating. Good luck. Some say not to put to much pressure on the micro-mesh as it might melt the pad some. Not sure of that, but I haven't to apply much pressure when getting to that point.

[Tom Borener]

Another inexpensive polishing tip is to use brown paper (from a grocery bag) after the steel wool. I go 320/400/wool/paper

[David DeCristoforo]

I use steel wool with a bit of paste wax. At high speed, a fine gloss can be achieved without the need to apply any other finishing materials. This actually polishes the wood so the level of sheen will vary depending on the characteristics of the wood. But heed Scott's warning. Steel wool can snag on anything! What's more, if you are polishing a smaller diameter area, strings of the steel wool can get wrapped around the piece. Before you can react, the spinning piece will suck up a big gob of the steel wool. This can easily break a small diameter turning, a pedestal stem or a finial for example. Don't ask me how I know this!

[Jak Kelly]

Thanks for the tip, I will have to give that a try next!

[Michelle Rich]

80 to 320? don't you have 80 grit scratches? after 80 you really do need to go 120, 180, 240, 320 etc.. 320 can never get out 80 grit scratches. have fun

[Greg A Jones]

.......Before you can react, the spinning piece will suck up a big gob of the steel wool. This can easily break a small diameter turning, a pedestal stem or a finial for example. Don't ask me how I know this!

Yea. I heard the same thing.

[Jak Kelly]

80 to 320? don't you have 80 grit scratches? after 80 you really do need to go 120, 180, 240, 320 etc.. 320 can never get out 80 grit scratches. have fun

Take a look at the picture, do you see scratches? I do not mean that in a sarcastic tone either.
I do not doubt that there are some of you who produce a very fine polished looking piece. Superior to the one I am producing as well. But, right now I am experimenting with trying to sale my pieces and hopefully make a little money at it. My cousin runs a thrift store in a small town, she has suggested $15 as a starting price and stated that would be on the high end of it. So with that being said, if I throw in a lot more steps, supplies, and processes then I am eating into my profit margins, which is not much at $15!!!!!
I do realize that I may be soliciting the wrong customer base to begin with. Which I do have plans to try some other local outlets. But I would like to see what happens here, never know what may be learned from it.

[robert baccus]

Try the scotch brite pads--they are great. I do gloss finishes and do not own any SP finer than 320.

[Rick Gibson]

I like your stopper designs. That's one thing I lack. I can copy almost anything but to come up with an "original" design that I and others think looks good is nearly impossible for me.
If you decide to go to a higher end metal stopper stay away from the plated stoppers. They will corrode and come back to you DAMHIKT. Ruth Niles has a good stainless steel stopper that is a low profile so what is above the bottle is your work and not a half inch of stopper. I have done some shaped like a top hat or an upside down wine glass where the top of the bottle actually goes up inside the stopper using the cork or neoprene? stopper. These are good for those who like to keep their (leftover) white wine in the fridge, it gives a low enough profile so the bottle will stand up in the door. (Not sure what leftover wine is though)
Up till now I have mostly done pens and used a CA finish. I haven't used Danish oil so I can't compare cost but it is likely a little more expensive. It's biggest advantages are it does seal the wood and you can finish from matte to high gloss easily.
When I use steel wool I hold it gently so if it catches it will just pull out of my hand and I also wear leather work gloves, not sure if they are pigskin or deer but they are soft and pliable enough I still have control and hand protection. Last thing I want is some doctor asking why I didn't wear gloves as he is unwinding strands of steel wool from inside my fingers.

[Jak Kelly]

I like your stopper designs. That's one thing I lack. I can copy almost anything but to come up with an "original" design that I and others think looks good is nearly impossible for me.

Rick, hang in there man. Usually my general idea is to NOT make one look like any of the others. Everyone I do is a first and a last. Which I am sure that after awhile everyone starts to repeat themselves to some extent, but with that being said as of right now I have no intentions of making 10 - 100 of the exact same thing. I do not even think about a profile until the gouge starts meeting the wood! That may be a bad idea, but so far it has worked, and I do have some favorites.
Some of the first few I did were more like "door-knobs" in size, laughable I know. I have also learned to start with smaller blanks, usually about 2" or a little less. Never thought about hallowing out an area so the bottle could slip inside of it, good idea, I may have to borrow that one? Guess you better know the bottle first though and like a specific brand, because I have seen a lot of different bottle opening sizes.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

Skipping grits may work on a small piece like stoppers. You could sand out 80 grit scratches with 320. But, when I run through the grits on small stuff, it takes maybe a minute to run through all the grits, plus using reverse. I would think it would take much longer just using 320.
A 12" bowl on the other hand, I would agree with Michelle, that you not getting all the scratches from the 80 grit out with 320.

I like your designs too.

[Thomas Canfield]

I agree with Kyle. The first grit takes the most sanding time and effort. The additional grits if progressed in the +50%, 80 to 120 to 180, etc go very fast per stage if all the previous marks are sanded out. You also build up less heat since the grits are cutting and not requiring a lot of pressure to remove the marks. Good sandpaper also helps, and I have had good luck with Norton 3X.