Cross Finish

My brother, Tom, is the "Cross Man"...a couple of years ago he had brought several work-in-progress crosses into the shop to finish as gifts.

He accidently left an unifinished one. I kept it for him but later got his permission to finish it myself for a friend.

It gave me a chance to try out some of Tom's expert techniques.

The cross was made of Bolivian rosewood with an inlay of holly.

The inlay was worked with a paring chisel.

A 22.5° chamfer was made on exposed edges at the router table...then completed with a paring chisel.

Tom loves to put a high polish on his work by using Micro Mesh® abrasives.

I bought a set to try out...after a sanding with the DX90 at 400x I ran through a series of increasingly fine abrasives.

The final finish came from a Tom technique...it starts with a beeswax, lemon and mineral oil mixture of The Natchez Solution Complete Furniture Care.

The applicator of the Natchez Solution is a piece of beeswax.

Using the wax chunk like a polissoir forces the wax into the pores.

 

 

After totally wetting the surfaces, the cross was allowed to dry for an hour, then the excess was cleaned off...and then allowed to dry thoroughly.

Polishing was done with a soft Eastwood buffing pad.

The wax rub in, dry, and polish cycle was completed several times until the cross was well polished.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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