I was watching a video of a guy turning a pepper mill and he was sanding the turned piece. Then he did something I've never seen before. He grabbed some of his wood waste shavings and held it against his turning piece. He had already sanded it down to a very fine finish. 

  I can't see this as being any more effective than very fine sandpaper or  0000 steel wool.

I will try it................Do you use this technique?  

 

It's a common technique but not one I tend to use. It's supposed to burnish the wood. Just an FYI, steel wool can grab on a piece of wood and wrap around it. It can cut a person pretty good if they're holding it wrong.

 

Steve

Yes, I found out the hard way with the steel wool.  It caught and almost immediately caught fire. The wood dust was glowing and had the potential of a major shop fire in the making. Since that event I am VERY careful in the way I hold the wool and now have a shop fire extinguisher close by.......we all should.

The intended purpose is to burnish the wood.  I use a piece of heavy brown paper shopping bag.  Much safer.  Burnishing is fine for a natural finish but can affect pieces being stained or dyed.

I absolutely use it. I can't say exactly what the equivalent, in grit, would be but I'd guess it comes close to 4000 or 5000 grit- depending on the wood species. Also, I turn the lathe speed way up when I do it.

 

Here's something I recorded for a "Wednesday's" topic sometime back-

 

 

You can see the reflected light change as the wood is burnished.

I use the process for chair parts, it absolutely burnishes a wonderful sheen or shine on the piece, this is after I have sanded it to 400 on the lathe, I use an unorthodox approach from the top but I do wander down to the bottom as well. You cannot see the sheen on this piece as the newly burnished surface is under my arm, I working from right to left. But I love using this method.

I have not done this for a long time. Something I started doing early and probably should only be used on spindles. A curious thing is it seems to darken cherry, probably the heat.

I was wondering about discoloration. Purple Hart tends to darken quickly too. I'm definitely going to try it, maybe not to use it, just to have fun with it.  Maybe incorporate the darkening part into something unusual. 

I used to see Norm do it on NYW.  If he did it, it must be a good idea, right? 

Had a ShopSmith sales guy show me how to just hold a piece of scrap wood against the turning part.......been using that ever since...

 

Cherry does darken, but I like it that way.

On 12/10/2017 at 12:45 PM, steven newman said:

Had a ShopSmith sales guy show me how to just hold a piece of scrap wood against the turning part.......been using that ever since...

 

Hey!  I used to be one of those Shopsmith sales guys!  Don't believe a word they say!  

26 minutes ago, Jim from Easy Wood Tools said:

Hey!  I used to be one of those Shopsmith sales guys!  Don't believe a word they say!  

Hey Jim, at least you were peddling equipment Made in America!!!!!! Nothing wrong with that sir!

13 hours ago, Jim from Easy Wood Tools said:

Hey!  I used to be one of those Shopsmith sales guys!  Don't believe a word they say!  

If anything could make a Shopsmith better, it would be Easy Wood Tools.

Is Shopsmith  still in business?

8 hours ago, oldwoodie said:

Is Shopsmith  still in business?

Yep. Check 'em out. 

9 hours ago, oldwoodie said:

Is Shopsmith  still in business?

Yeah...   Gene is right.  They survive in spite of themselves....

Great tools...   terrible business managers.   IMHO

6 minutes ago, Jim from Easy Wood Tools said:

Yeah...   Gene is right.  They survive in spite of themselves....

Great tools...   terrible business managers.   IMHO

Still family?

JIT isn't making them any friends, either.