Which one would you folks recommend using on a reel seat made from osage?

About 10 coats of sprayed on laquer about 30 minutes apart. Let cure for a week then sand to 600 grit and polish with a good automotive swirl remover or Novus 2 which is what I use. You will get a durable and high gloss shine.

Lance

Lance, to an inexperienced woodworker like myself, laquer seems to be a generic term. Can you elaborate, maybe provide a name brand?

Thanks,
Jeff

Jeff, sorry about that. I use Deft brand laquer in a spray can. I also buy it by the quart and thin it with laquer thinner and spray it from my airbrush. That's only when I have several pieces to do at once. I mostly use Gloss and Semi gloss. Semi gloss on lighter woods and Gloss on darker woods.

Lance

Tru Oil!! Way tougher finish, you can also use perma gloss on real seats which would probably be the best all around finish, to give you the best of both worlds. Tru oil would bring out the colors in the wood best though, in my opinion at least.

Since you airbrush why not just use a polyurethane clear that is used on cars. flexible and you can poor gasoline on it and it is protected. Check out PPG your local auto paint store or shop. Heck if you want to go cheap, and easy, thin out thread finish, brush on, sand, another thin coat, and it shines like glass. Works on threads !! Several days in between coats.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/26/2008 10:08PM by bill boettcher.

Tru-Oil is easy to use, works well and holds up very well in an exterior environment.

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Bill touched on something that I've been working with, casting resins. EasyCast by Envirotex provides a tough, glossy finish. I turn the wood past the desired target dimension, build up two coats of EasyCast (only around eight hours between coats while turning on my dryer). Then sand down to target dimension using progressively finer paper, then auto polish.

Jeff

One thing you need to know is that the pretty color of osage orange is very photosenstive. When exposed to sunlight for a while it is gonna turn brown. So you need a finish with a lot of UV inhibitor. Exterior spar varnish might work. Some turners use automobile clear coat because it has a lot of UV inhibitor. I like Tru-oil, but for Osage orange I would try the spar urathane and be sure to pick one that says it has UV inhibitor.