yew wood finishing

[hodge911]

hi all 

a Q for the wood gurus amongst us 

what is the best way to finish / buff to a high gloss finish on yew wood discs ?

I have a post in the wanted section for trunk discs . a mate of mine has managed to get me some yew wood discs cut from a trunk that has been dry stored for over 2 yrs now .

I have not seen the wood yet but I,m planning on using it for some clock faces and would like a nice high gloss finish on them if I can .

do I go for spray on laquer or brushed on epoxy resin buffed to a high shine ……………………...… or does any of the P.W masterminds know a better way 

any info / ideas would be excellent 

thanks

 

[fatchap]

Lots of thin coats of polyurethane varnish sanding in between then a final coat of car polish and buff the granny out of it, it should look like its coated in glass, 

Method works on my catapults.

Never used Yew though, lots of conflicting horror stories about, But then again Robin Hood had no problems with it, Makes a damn fine long bow.

[peck]

Make sure you use a good facemask when sanding yew as the fine dust particles are very poisonous.

 

[Walker570]

3 minutes ago, peck said:

Make sure you use a good facemask when sanding yew as the fine dust particles are very poisonous.

 

Yep, not good for you but one of the most beautiful woods when finished.

[peck]

2 minutes ago, Walker570 said:

Yep, not good for you but one of the most beautiful woods when finished.

I agree.

 

[hodge911]

12 hours ago, Walker570 said:

Yep, not good for you but one of the most beautiful woods when finished.

now my interest in doing a good job has just trebled .

anyone fancy going in depth to describe best ways to get the best look from it ...…….....PLEASE...…...……. 

am I thinking along the right lines regarding precautions to take ….

1, [as already mentioned] good respirator

2, gloves

3, eye protection

4, dust extraction [ I have a vacuum that I can plug sander / tools into that auto starts when tool switched on ]

Edited November 25, 2019 by hodge911

[Walker570]

It is just the breathing in of the dust which is not good for you but over reaction to dangers is never a bad thing.  I must admit I loath super shiny glas like wood finishes, they look so much like the 'plastic' wood adornments on dashboards of modern cards...in fact photo reproduction on ally sheets.  No, I am the oil finish person on wood. Get a really good finish on the wood in the first place with a bit of elbow grease, then oil it.  Of course then you get into the argument as to which oil............................................

[figgy]

Any wood dust is bad for you, I thought it was oy the seeds in the berries were bad, you can eat the flesh of the berries. I cut loads of yew hedging with four and five inch trunks round my parents garden.  Must be bloody good luck I'm still here. Some people have died from yew poisoning.

Edited November 26, 2019 by figgy

[fatchap]

Ebony dust is also not breathably friendly.

[demonwolf444]

worked with yew a lot - Its nothing like as evil as tropical hard woods.

Best high gloss finish is a few coats of shellac based sanding sealer then a couple of coats of true oil - which is an oil/varnish mix - the result comes out really really nice on yew particularly. Yew  heart wood will darken some what with age.

If you do breathe in a lot of dust the result is pretty much like a crippling hangover. Hand sand or use machines with extraction. If possible sand outside and you will be fine. 

good yews a beautiful material my childhood home was surrounded by yew tree's so i spent a lot of my childhood working with it.

 

[team tractor]

On 26/11/2019 at 16:38, figgy said:

Any wood dust is bad for you, I thought it was oy the seeds in the berries were bad, you can eat the flesh of the berries. I cut loads of yew hedging with four and five inch trunks round my parents garden.  Must be bloody good luck I'm still here. Some people have died from yew poisoning.

We are covered in the stuff daily. As you say , all dust is bad especially all hardwoods .