I notice the use of "rotten stone". What is it.
Great articles. Will try some of the tips.
Tony
S/V Ambrosia

In article .com,
says...
I notice the use of "rotten stone". What is it.
Great articles. Will try some of the tips.
Tony
S/V Ambrosia


Rottenstone is a very fine volcanic powder used in rubbing out a finish.
It's usually used as the step after rubbing out with pumice.

Ace hardware carries it and I believe you can get at home stores.

It and mineral oil, acting as a lubricant, on a felt pad of wadded
cotton rag are rubbed on the wood to remove very light scratches and
further refine the surface.

Auto rubbing compound and polishing compound can be used rather then, in
order, pumice and rottenstone. They're not quite as aggressive as pumice
and rotten stone so you have to rub a bit harder but it does make a
suitable substitute.



--
Mike G.
Heirloom Woods

www.heirloom-woods.net

Rotten stone is a natural mineral used for polishing.
Its finer in texture than pumice or diatomaceous earth.

Rotten stone has been used for fine polishing of brass and varnished
surfaces for ages. Its usually available in paint stores (right next to
the packages of various grades of pumice) and if its a really good
paint/hardware store you might find "tripoli" compound for polishing
stainless steel, etc..

To use: Flat sand the surface with increasingly finer and finer grades
of wet and dry sandpaper (ending with 2000 grit); then for a satin
finish use a very clean felt pad with a little bit of oil and
sprinkled with rotten stone and rub lightly along the direction of the
grain until the surface becomes warm. The heat of friction will also
develop an irridescent glowing 'patina' in the wood cells. For an
ultra gloss surface as above but using water instead of oil. Best is
to simply use a clean bare hand with a few drops of water and rotten
stone. If you ever have seen the ultra gloss finishes found on mega
yachts, private jets or museums .... this is how they get such
finishes. Obviously the varnish must be completely cured before
hand-rubbing/polishing. For varnish application just build up many thin
layers of varnish and allow to cure throughly before polishing. The
frictional heat from the hand polishing will make the varnish look like
glass and the wood cells underneath the varnish will absolutely GLOW.
There are other surface finishes that are more brilliant (french
polishing using shellac, etc.) but are vulnerable to water.
Do a websearch for "rotten stone" polish.

This is essentially the same technique used for finalizing lacquer
finishes on the most expensive automobiles and pianos, etc. .

In article .com, Lyn
& Tony wrote:

I notice the use of "rotten stone". What is it.
Great articles. Will try some of the tips.
Tony
S/V Ambrosia

Subject: help! my varnish has pimples,..
From: bilgeworthy

Hi, new varnisher here. When I brush it on carefully, I can see tiny
gas bubbles forming in the wake of the brushstroke. Most of them pop
but some do not and others seem to form during the drying process. The
more I try and brush it out the worse it gets. The unhappy result is a
beautiful piece of wood with assorted pimples strewn about the finish.
I have tried expensive brushes and foam brushes with the same result.
I have tried straight varnish, thinner, cheap and dear and 216
(xylene) as brushing agents. I follow the routine from the Brightwork
Companion as well as I can. Not shaking or redipping from the can.
I'm working indoors with everything at room temp. I have used brand
new Schooner Varnish, some old junk in a can and a custom artists
mixture of Danar (Damar?) and magic emollients etc. They all act the
same. It's less noticeable on 25 year old teak than on newly made
woodwork but it's the same result even after 8 coats. I sand out the
flaws between coats. I am definitely open to suggestion at this point.
Gosh, the old teak just takes your breath away. If I can just take
care of this complexion problem.

After 8 coats the bubbles would not be coming out of the wood.
So are your sure that they are not small bits of contamination? I've had people
tell me that the bubbles they see while applying varnish don't seem to fully
pop and go away. And after looking closely at them I've found them to not be
dried bubbles but particles of contamination or dust.
Are you filtering the varnish? Tacking off well?
Applying it outside? Or in a dust free room/area?

If they truly are bubbles perhaps you should add a bit more thinner (if your
adding any now) to give the bubbles less viscosity to fight and more time to
pop.

Capt. Bill

In article , labomba182
@aol.com says...
after looking closely at them I've found them to not be
dried bubbles but particles of contamination or dust.



An excellent observation. I've found that in the hour or so it takes
varnish to dry out of tack it makes a better dust collector then any
HEPA filter and is capable of attracting dust from whole neighborhoods.


--
Mike G.
Heirloom Woods

www.heirloom-woods.net

Subject: help! my varnish has pimples,..
From: Mike G

In article , labomba182
says...
after looking closely at them I've found them to not be
dried bubbles but particles of contamination or dust.



An excellent observation. I've found that in the hour or so it takes
varnish to dry out of tack it makes a better dust collector then any
HEPA filter and is capable of attracting dust from whole neighborhoods.

Ain't that the truth. :-)

And here in FL we have "love bugs" during the summer that just LOVE that fresh
varnish smell.

Capt. Bill

bilgeworthy wrote:
Hi, new varnisher here. When I brush it on carefully, I can see tiny
gas bubbles forming in the wake of the brushstroke. Most of them pop
but some do not and others seem to form during the drying process. The
more I try and brush it out the worse it gets. The unhappy result is a
beautiful piece of wood with assorted pimples strewn about the finish.
I have tried expensive brushes and foam brushes with the same result.
I have tried straight varnish, thinner, cheap and dear and 216
(xylene) as brushing agents. I follow the routine from the Brightwork
Companion as well as I can. Not shaking or redipping from the can.
I'm working indoors with everything at room temp. I have used brand
new Schooner Varnish, some old junk in a can and a custom artists
mixture of Danar (Damar?) and magic emollients etc. They all act the
same. It's less noticeable on 25 year old teak than on newly made
woodwork but it's the same result even after 8 coats. I sand out the
flaws between coats. I am definitely open to suggestion at this point.
Gosh, the old teak just takes your breath away. If I can just take
care of this complexion problem.
Thank you.

I'm sure you've seen by now that any question about varnish on this
group will bring out enough responses from the "varnish is evil" crowd
to make you want to hang up your brush. ;-)

Of course if you've read Rebecca Wittman, you know to pour from the can
through a filter into a container and then thin and brush from that.
Keep everything clean. Tack rag and wipe with mineral spirits. Yadda,
yadda. If you've done all that you may still be experiencing any one of
several problems.

First, as has been mentioned, be sure to start with one or two very thin
coats to seal the wood.

Second, make sure your varnish is properly thinned. This depends a lot
on temperature and humidity. Knowing what's best comes with practice. I
usually try to get a consistency between whole milk and half & half. See
how it drools off your stir stick. Err on the side of too thin.

Lastly (and I think this may be where your problem is), there's a
technique to brushing. Don't overload or underload your brush. Brush
with the grain of the wood and try to brush away from your "wet edge".
Start brushing for coverage and then go back several times, each time
with less pressure, finishing with strokes so light that you're barely
touching the surface. Once an area is done, don't touch it again until
it's dry. You can get good results with foam brushes, but I think
bristle brushes produce fewer bubbles.

After saying all that, you should know that it will never be perfect and
there's no such thing as a final coat. If all else fails, you can always
invoke the "4 foot rule". Think of varnish as a "zen" exercise and don't
let anyone ruin it for you.

Cindy

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