In the US most woodturning/woodworking supply stores carry kits. In this case I took the guts from a Harbor Freight screwdriver, turned a new handle out of cherry, filling the cracks with colored epoxy, made a ferrule from a brass plumbing fitting, and put it all together. The handle is finished with Danish oil.
I’m more into metalworking and I’m not that good with wood, but I’ve made quite a few handles for files and other tools. I’ve used boiled linseed oil for finishing mostly because that was what I had but the handles get dirty and ugly almost instantly. Is Danish oil better in that regard or would you recommend something else for oily/greasy use? Oh, and your handle looks way better than mine, I need to step up my wood game. 😀
The only difference with the Danish oil is the addition of some varnish. Apply enough coats and it’ll start to build up and might help a little with stain resistance. Otherwise you would need something more durable like a film finish. I think maybe laquer or a CA finish would work well for oil/grease resistance.
Some people don’t put any finish on handles and let natural oils from their hands build a patina. If you don’t like the look then some kind of film finish is probably what you need.
I just try different handle shapes until I find ones I like.
I first learned about dust from Bill Pentz. In my garage, I combined a shop-vac with an Oneida Dust Deputy. Depending on price, you can look at other Oneida products or ClearVue.
There’s some interesting words in here, huh? “Polyurethane stain” is an interesting combination. And what exactly is “varnish?”
Traditionally, stain is just about color. It’s some dye or pigment suspended in a chemical that will easily evaporate. Just there to color the wood. Does nothing to protect it or add/subtract gloss.
A finish–either a lacquer or varnish–would be applied over a stain as a protective layer. Anything from shellac (excretion of the female lac beetle), tree resin, or polymers such as polyurethane are used for this. These protect the surface from physical damage as well as water/dirt/oil ingress, plus they build up that pretty transparent layer on top of the wood.
Rule of thumb: lacquers are just resins dissolved in a solvent, and when the solvent evaporates, it leaves behind the resin, meaning they can be repaired/modified/removed by applying more solvent. Varnishes undergo some chemical change during the drying process kind of like concrete; it doesn’t just “dry,” it “hardens.”
Another rule of thumb: lacquers are often designed to dry very quickly, and are often designed to be sprayed on. Most commercially produced furniture has a lacquer finish simply because of how fast it can be applied; a table could be taken from raw wood to ready for the customer in under an hour. Varnishes are often designed to dry slower and are often designed to be wiped or brushed on. Varnish is more typical for floors, bar tops and other high wear applications because they’re often more durable, but it can take days to apply in multiple layers.
Polyurethane is a varnish. To achieve a shine, you’ll want to build it up in several layers, lightly sanding in between each. Water based polyurethane is easier to work with than oil-based, but it doesn’t build up to the same gloss.
I suspect by “polyurethane stain” you mean you’ve got something like Minwax Polyshades, which is a urethane that has some pigment in it. These are marketed as “one-step” color and finish coatings. You would apply several coats of this product, lightly sanding between coats, and then apply a polish over it for your desired level of shine.
Mind you: A lot of things you might think of as “polishes” at first are actually varnishes or varnish-like materials. Linseed oil, for example, is a drying oil. It goes on as a liquid, but it reacts with the oxygen in the air and undergoes a chemical change into a solid. Danish oil, and Minwax’s “Tung Oil Finish” are essentially thin urethanes. That latter product, the “Tung Oil Finish” is controversial because it has little to no tung oil in it; Minwax is trying to say it forms a tung oil-like finish. I personally like the product and use it a lot, and mentally think of it as “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Tung Oil.” Applying these over a water-based urethane probably won’t end well; one probably wouldn’t adhere to the other and it would peel off or otherwise misbehave.
What you’re probably going to reach for is paste wax. Paste wax is just a wax and oil mixture, lots of different oils and waxes have been used over the years. Once upon a time you’d find paraffin and turpentine used, which does a great job while being really poisonous. On the other hand, a popular mixture for food-safe applications is mineral oil and bee’s wax, which is safe to eat by the spoonful if you’re so inclined. It’s a great polish for children’s toys and furniture or wooden kitchen implements. Just wipe some all over the surface, let it dry for several minutes, then buff it off. Paste wax is also useful around the shop as a lubricant and rust preventer for metal surfaces such as the bed of your table saw.
TL;DR: Apply several layers of your water-based urethane, sanding between each, then polish with paste wax.
Thanks. We were moving, so I took some photos when I disassembled it. That was two houses ago now, and it's currently set up in roughly the same configuration, but a bit lower and with fewer duct runs (planer, Table saw, and "other"). One of the simple PLA blast gates came apart in one of the moves, but for how simple they were they've held up well.
Yes, of course, but not without time and work that may not be worthwhile unless the tree has sentimental value.
There are urban sawmills and DIY sawmills that can plank out the trunk of that tree. Then, you'll need to let it dry and/or get it to kiln. This will take at least months and maybe a couple of years and has wrinkles of its own (wax/paint on the ends and "stickering" between the planks). After that, maybe it comes out really lovely. I don't know the exact species you've got there. It will likely be nicer than the Spruce/Fir/Pine construction lumber from Home Depot, but it's also still kinda likely to look like... well... construction lumber.
In the unlikely event that you desperately want to make something from this tree, and also have no desire to properly process the wood, you certainly can. It's not going to explode or anything, it just might not have a look many find desirable. I've never really known anyone to do greenwood turning with pine, but conceptually I guess it might be possible, if also sticky. Could also do some other bentwood green work, but that has a very specific look to it. Beyond that, you could try something rustic and just let it be when it inevitably warps and cracks. Or you could embed a pinecone or a little sliver of it in some resin, then turn that on a lathe.
Or you could make a great big pile of firewood, LOL.
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