Maybe this belongs in the turning forum, but I will start here.

I'm seeing a lot of Youtube videos about Yorkshire Grit and home made alternatives for use on turned bowls and spindles.

Some combination of beeswax, mineral spirits, and various fine gritted compounds. The DIY version usually has diatomaceouos

earth - seems like a very fine clay of some sort.

These guys sand to 220, seal with nitrocellulose sanding sealer, then rub this stuff on with a paper towel It appears that it all 

is sanding the sanding sealer more than the wood.  

They then suggest that one can then put on a drying finish such as poly, lacquer or shellac.

Well, this seems contrary to just about anything I think I know about putting a finish like this over wax

 

So, four questions:

. Do you use this stuff?

.  Store bought or home made?

.  Do you put a finish on top? What kind?

.  if yes to the above, can you explain how it is that a drying finish can go well over it?  

 

Thanks,

 

Robert

Wondered the same thing myself. Mostly what I see is using Yorkshire and Hampshire stuff as the final finish.  

 

There is a young lady in England that uses acrylic paints over it and they seem to do well. I haven't personally tried it.

 

Here's a video from a turner on using these finishes. About half way thru it he discusses top coats-

 

 

Thanks for this. I'd love to hear from others who actually use this kind of product.

I did learn that the fancy earth they use is fossilized algae. The paste is full of little

pieces of it, hence the abrasive nature. It seems that as it breaks down, pieces would

get stuck, along with the wax, in the wood.  

 

I might try it, but on a practice piece, not something I've put a lot of time into already.

 

 

Not sure what is in these products but the most common abrasive used in sanding pastes is diatomaceous earth and rotten stone. Yorkshire Grit is Rotten Stone and Pumice (ground volcanic ash)

 

Diatomaceous earth consists of fossilized remains of diatoms, a type of hard-shelled protist.

 

Rotten stone, sometimes spelled as rottenstone, also known as tripoli, is fine powdered porous rock used as a polishing abrasive for metalsmithing and in woodworking. It is usually weathered limestone mixed with diatomaceous, amorphous, or crystalline silica.

 

So, Gerald, are you going to weigh in on the thought of using these abrasives plus wax, then putting a finish over them?

6 hours ago, Bob Hodge said:

So, Gerald, are you going to weigh in on the thought of using these abrasives plus wax, then putting a finish over them?

Well I was not going to but in my opinion that stuff is the final step and add wax . I have seen videos on this and I think there is on on Wood World of Texas site of a live demo they had last month. But I was not too interested in a new method to spend money so did not watch all of it.

I found this from Chestnut Products in the UK

 

Chestnut-Products-Compatibility-Chart-Coloured.pdf

Thanks, Lew. This is a helpful chart.    I agree, this looks like something good to use as a final product to knock down the sheen of some shiny poly, Waterlox or other. I am hesitant to actually sand the wood with it lest the remaining wax cause a problem with the finish as I apply it.    

Maybe we will hear from some other brave souls who have tried it in sanding the wood.

Moved from Tips to Finishing Forum.