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Marc:All right, let's face it.
It's incredibly difficult to get a high
quality finish in our typical workshop environments.
Basements, garages, and even driveways.
But, fortunately, there's something you can do
to just about every finish, after the finish cures
to make it absolutely flawless.
Now you could build it up to a super high
gloss kind of like this little sample board
I've got here, or you could stop at a satin,
semi gloss, somewhere along the way.
The process is called rubbing out.
And I'll wait.
Now, if you don't get that joke,
congratulations, your mind is pure.
Now, rubbing out the finish is really
nothing more than using abrasives
to work the cured finish.
Now, what's great about this for small shop
wood workers is the fact that that final coat
is almost never perfect.
A process like this allows us to smooth
the surface and then bring it up to the
desired sheen, whatever that may be.
And as you can see, I've got a piece
of plywood here that's been brought up
to a nice high gloss.
Now, before you get started with this process
you have to look at the wood you're working with
and determine if you need to fill the pores.
Certain woods have open pores and open grain
and you will need to use a pore filler to get
a nice, smooth, continuous surface
that you could build your finish upon.
That's how we're going to start this project.
Now, this project itself is a humidor
that we're building in the Wood Whisperer Guild
at thewoodwhispererguild.com.
If you want more information on that,
that's where you can go.
And we're using bubinga and wenge.
Both of those woods need to be filled
because they have open pores and open grains.
So let's get to it.
The surface is sanded to 320 grit and then
a sealer coat of either lacquer or shellac
is applied.
The sealer coat will help protect the wood surface
from the colored wood filler.
Once dry, the finish is lightly sanded
with 320 grit paper.
I'm using Timbermate wood filler in ebony
for the wenge trim.
A putty knife gives me the control that I need
for this tedious work.
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Well, this might take a little while.
I'm using Brazilian cherry filler for the bubinga
and a small piece of scrap wood helps me
drive the putty into the pores
without scratching the surface.
I let the filler sit over night and then
sand the surface lightly with 320 grit paper.
The remainder of the filler is removed
with a damp rag.
It might be hard to see, but the filled pores
give us a smooth and continuous surface
on which to layer our lacquer finish.
The lacquer I'm using is from Sherwin Williams.
I always filter my finishes before spraying,
using a simple paint filter.
I apply three coats to the box, let it dry
for a day, and then give the surface
a light sanding with 320 grit.
I apply about seven more coats over the course
of the next two days.
Now, I've applied a total of about ten coats
to the box and that's way more finish
that I normally would put on a project
but most projects don't get the rubbing out
process that we're going to do on this one.
Now, to rub out the finish you're basically ...
You could rub out to any sheen, whatever you want,
but we're going for a high gloss here.
That process itself uses abrasives.
So it's going to remove some of the finish.
This is why we put a whole bunch of extra
finish on the surface, to make sure that
we have a thicker film that can sustain
that extra abrasion.
So when it's all said and done there's still
enough finish on the surface to protect
the project, but we've done all the buffing
that we needed to do to get that high shine.
All right, now we can't do this process
right away because we need to make sure
that the material is up to its full hardness.
It has to be completely cured, or close to it.
Now, something like a lacquer, fortunately,
only takes about a week to get there.
If you're doing some sort of a oil-based finish,
that may take two weeks, three weeks.
The longer you wait, the better.
All right, so we're going to give this
at least seven days before we start
that rub out process.
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To level the surface I'm using 320 grit
wet dry paper.
Soapy water serves to lubricate the sand paper
and prevents clogging.
As you sand, you should see a milky slurry develop.
That's the finish dust mixing with the soapy water
and it's perfectly normal.
But if it persists for several days,
you should see a doctor.
To check your progress, wipe away the slurry
and examine the surface.
You see all those shiny spots?
Those are actually the low points.
We need to keep sanding until the entire surface
is uniformly dull.
When you're finished it should look
something like this.
Any remaining low spots can be hit with
a little bit of extra sanding.
The corners and edges are leveled by hand
just to be safe.
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To smooth the surface, I'm going to use
platin abrasive pads from Festool,
including 500, 1,000, and 2,000 grit.
These pads attach to any random orbit sander
and they make quick work of the smoothing process.
A little soapy water lubricates the surface
and the slurry quickly develops.
I start with 500 grit and then repeat the process
with 1,000 grit and, finally, 2,000 grit.
After 2,000 grit, we've got a beautiful satin finish.
Now, some people may prefer this sheen
so there's nothing wrong with stopping
at this point if you wanted to.
But we're going to take this finish
a step further with polishing.
(music)
To polish the surface, I'm using Menzerna
polishing compounds.
The IP 2000 will erase the 2,000 grit scratches
and the SF 4500 will give us that final
deep gloss we're going for.
To apply the polish, I'm using SurBuf pads
that attach right to my sander.
I'll start with the IP 2000, putting a few dabs
right on the polishing pad.
The weight of the sander really does
all of the work here.
All I have to do is guide it.
The polish is then removed and we can start
with the SF 4500.
Using a soft cloth and some of that soapy water,
I can clean the remaining polish off
the surface.
While a high gloss finish like this
isn't really appropriate for most home projects,
it sure is fun on the occasional box
or that show piece project.
And the principles behind it can be used
to improve just about any finish that you apply
in your shop.
If you can say it without giggling,
rubbing out is a great way to achieve
a perfect finish.