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Polishing logs

Started by Snag, February 22, 2006, 06:14:36 PM

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Snag

I have been making some log furniture for a short period of time and need a little advice.  I basically started by reading a book on the subject.  My problem is in attaining the nice polished finish I have seen on alot of the pics on here.  The book I have says to use an angle grinder with a sanding disc.  I really dont get great results.  Would anyone mind sharing their routine?  Sanding, prepping, finish coat...???  I want to try a table next with a portion of the top root structure, but hate to put the time into it when I am not happy with my current results.  Thanks guys....

SPIKER

yes it can be pollished but at a lot of work involved , lots of it hand work too.   mechanical sanders are good when doing the roughing in, with lower grit numbers (corse er sanding grit such as 24, 36 and 48)  then move up to finer grit, (higher numbers such as 80, 120 , 240 ect.)  continue moving to higher grits numbers to get smoother results.  then you need to move to straight line sanding rather than circular which cuts the grain of the wood differently. 

just like most things it takes practice & lots of working at it to attain the results you want...  something most younger couwd is not willing to put forth.

mark M
I'm looking for help all the shrinks have given up on me :o

Tom

With most woods, nature will do it for you.  The layer of real wood below the cambium is pretty slick.  It isn't "smooth".  It has dimples and cones and ridges and....  but it is slick and looks highly polished if you can remove the bark without damaging the surface.  Eastern and Southern Red cedars are great woods to get this result.  Cypress and Pine also tend to be fairly smooth.  Cypress more so than Pine.   In hardwoods, I've seen some really slick surfaces beneath the bark of the hickories.   :)

MemphisLogger

Snag,

For some reason, being a woodworker with a sawmill gives a lot of my clients the idea that I can make things outta logs   ???

I've found that the best way to get logs to shine up nice is to peel them and then smooth with a flap sander head on a drill. Lee Valley Sander

After that I go with stain, oil, wax and buffer.

Latest polished log job . . . 








Scott Banbury, Urban logger since 2002--Custom Woodworker since 1990. Running a Woodmizer LT-30, a flock of Huskies and a herd of Toy 4x4s Midtown Logging and Lumber Company at www.scottbanbury.com

UNCLEBUCK

 Anytime I needed a shiny log the drawknife was how I got it . Flat surfaces looked great after going through the planer .  I watched a show where a lady had a hand held wood block plane and she shaved off her old workbench to make it look shiny and new . That plane had to be about 2 foot long . What you scoopin there UrbanLogger ? 
UNCLEBUCK    bridge burner/bridge mender

MemphisLogger

It's a sink basin for one of the 8 bathrooms in a 12,000 sqft house some folks with too much money are building  :-\

She saw a pic in a magazine and had to have one. It will have a "natural edge' marble top.

It's not particularly my favorite sort of project but, hey, gotta do whatcha gotta do  ;) 
Scott Banbury, Urban logger since 2002--Custom Woodworker since 1990. Running a Woodmizer LT-30, a flock of Huskies and a herd of Toy 4x4s Midtown Logging and Lumber Company at www.scottbanbury.com

Jeff

I was going to say, the same thing. The best surface you can get it like Tom said, the one God put there.  Here is a photo of a cedar stump, you will see other photos of it around the forum. We cut it off at cedar eaters pace I dare say about 5 years ago. It has never had any finish or polishing or anything other then dusting. It was debarked by peeling by hand or with small hand tools in the spring of the year, being careful not to scrape and gouge the very soft wood.  Its just as shiney and beautiful as the day it was "debarked"


Just call me the midget doctor.
Forestry Forum Founder and Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.

Commercial circle sawmill sawyer in a past life for 25yrs.
Ezekiel 22:30

woodsteach

I use  Walter flap wheels for the angle grinder then random orbital and will finish it up by hand. 

For finish I use General Finishes Seal-A-Cell followed by 5-7 coats of thier poly.  Steel between each coat

Paul

Brand X Swing Mill, JD 317 Skidloader, MS460 & 290, the best family a guy could ever dream of...all provided by God up above.  (with help from our banker ; ) )

isawlogs

 Spring peeled wood is the best .. Naturel pollish is what I prefer .

  Jeff what s you got in the water tank  ???
A man does not always grow wise as he grows old , but he always grows old as he grows wise .

   Marcel

Jeff

Just call me the midget doctor.
Forestry Forum Founder and Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.

Commercial circle sawmill sawyer in a past life for 25yrs.
Ezekiel 22:30

isawlogs

 I used to have some when I was younger , I have a place picked out for a fish tank in the new house . I like your tank holder ... ya got any patents pending on that .  ??? ;D
A man does not always grow wise as he grows old , but he always grows old as he grows wise .

   Marcel

Jeff

 :D Nope. The stump table is the show peice We put different stuff on it. There are scattered photos if it on the forum. I love to look at it. Depending on what direction it faces, it can look completly different.
Just call me the midget doctor.
Forestry Forum Founder and Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.

Commercial circle sawmill sawyer in a past life for 25yrs.
Ezekiel 22:30

solodan

I agree with Tom and Jeff,
The Man Upstairs made this stump



so I could make this table



I peeled this with a pressure washer at very low pressure.
It was very smooth and shiney, however I did finish it with oil and then a coat of urethane, just to match the sheen of the other pieces I did for this guys house.


Snag

Thanks for all the great advice guys.  I have peeled some wood and it was naturally smooth, the others I'm sure would have been if I could have gotten the dang bark off.  I guess it is just a learning curve on how/when to remove it best.  I sure will try this spring.  Awesome displays of craftsmanship guys.

Solodan- the table you show is exactly what I was looking to do.  real nice.

UrbanLogger- Funny you should mention the sink basin.  I have had this sick thought in my head to do a rustic bathroom "vanity", complete with wood countertop and envisioned a wood sink.  Wasnt sure how it would work out with the sink and the way to seal it up best from the water.  Anybody done this here?  Any inspiring photos or advice.  Thanks a bunch....

MemphisLogger

I had a friend out in California that lived up in the million-dollar-an-acre woods in the Loma Prieta above Los Altos.

He had goats, chickens and a greenhouse and was totally off the grid. He paid his taxes by carving sink basins, hippie drums, furniture and totems. He would hollow his drums and basins using hot coals and a big home-forged gouge.

He was also a surfboard maker and would often finish his basin with fiberglass wove and high-stretch (system 3) epoxy.

I think he sniffed too much of that stuff  ;)     
Scott Banbury, Urban logger since 2002--Custom Woodworker since 1990. Running a Woodmizer LT-30, a flock of Huskies and a herd of Toy 4x4s Midtown Logging and Lumber Company at www.scottbanbury.com

solodan

I did this vanity for a guy this last fall.



I did not make the sink he gave it to me. it was an old salad bowl.

I would have liked to carve a bowl into the top. all one piece, but this is what the guy wanted

I used spar varnish and it seems to be holding up well

Snag

man o man, that is some nice work. :o   I agree with you on the putting the bowl right into the slab.  Either that or make a seperate piece that sets into the top as most sinks do.  From your work, it looks like you could have done a nicer job than him wanting to use the salad bowl, but to each their own.

woodbowl

One year while attending the IWF show at the world congress center in Atlanta Ga. I saw a tumbler on display that was about 12 feet tall. It contained textured beads of different grits. Also, in the tumbler were rung style rocking chairs and other odd shaped items. Anything that was a nightmare to sand in terms of getting into all the nooks and crannies with a piece of sandpaper by hand, was put into this drum. It was like a giant rock tumbler.
     I could just kick myself for not getting the name of the buisness. The media used for sanding/polishing is something I would like to know the source of as well. Has anyone ever seen this?
    I suppose a barrel full of pebbles would do a smoothing of some kind.
Full time custom sawing at the customers site since 1995.  WoodMizer LT40 Super Hyd.

solodan

Thank you.

I am making another vanity top this week for a rental house I own.
The slab is  coming from the same tree that the other one came from.
I am using the old cabinets that were built in and went all the way to the ceiling. I cut them down and will put a piece of this blue stained sugar pine on top. I am dropping a porcalin/ cast iron sink into it. cutting the opening in a 3" slab should be interesting. ??? I will post some pics when it's done.

Snag

sounds cool.  looking forward to the pics.....

isawlogs


Ok I know it has nothing to do with how one polishes wood .. but it is wood in a way ..  ;D

I got this lamp done yesterday , found these antlers last fall . they even have litlle critter teeth marks on them .  :D
A man does not always grow wise as he grows old , but he always grows old as he grows wise .

   Marcel

Tom


solodan

marcel,

what kind of critters do you think they are.

you know I used to wonder why I see deer everyday, but rarley find antlers.

well someone clued me in that porcepines eat them for calcium.

isawlogs

 The mice, squirrels and most any of the nawwing critters will shew on them for the calcium . These it was probably mice , this going by the teeth marks .  :P
A man does not always grow wise as he grows old , but he always grows old as he grows wise .

   Marcel

Lud

Been wood working since I was a kid.  About 10 years ago I picked up a wood polishing system that still works fine.........but more important was the theory!

The system is a flax wheel with Tripoli wax.  Hardwoods sanded to 150 or better 'hit ' with this loads wax/abrasive into the pores and you see color change,  deepening and coming out.  Take your time but it goes pretty fast.

Next is a flax and flannel wheel with White Polishing compund.  can be a bit dusty but this continues the polishing/abrading at a fine level.

Last is a flannel wheel with Carnuba.  Really brings out the gloss.

See,  it's coarse, medium,  fine with the wheels as well as the materials.   I've wound up having two sets of wheels as this works amazingly on metal but the wheels got somewhat black- so one set for wood and one set for metal.  Shine your brass hoochie you got cheap at an auction to a high polish- put it back in another auction and see how much it brings.


This is great on small and medium stuff.  Furniture and bigger, it's tough to beat the wipe on polys.  I'll use marine grade for exterior stuff.

Anyone else do it this way? ;)
Simplicity mill, Ford 1957 Golden Jubilee 841 Powermaster, 40x60 bankbarn, left-handed

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