I fished out an old Soprano Recorder,that I’d bought 25 years ago.It’s a cheap maple instrument made by Adler.The instrument had a varnish stain finish which was scratched and chipped,so in a fit of pique,I took off all the old varnish with glasspaper.
Now I think that the instrument looks lots better with the bare wood grain.
Now I was wondering whether to apply some sort of finish to the bare wood.I understand that these maple instruments are usually sealed on the inside with Parrafin wax.
I have considered making up a polish of 50% beeswax/50% Almond oil and applying this sparingly to the outside surfaces.
Would this work o.k.?
Anyone any better ideas (apart from various methods of destruction from the Recorder haters)?
Pure linseed oil. Beats wax any time, even for furniture, and doen’t feel sticky.
Then air and sun to help polymerize it, and get rid of the smell.
You may ad a couple drops of mint and/or lemon essential oils to cover the smell if it bothers you.
Else use poppyseed oil, works about the same as linseed.
Pure Tung oil is my favourite, but it takes a long time to do properly.
I was worried that Beeswax might result in stickiness.
Thanks for the alternative ideas.
There’s a thing called French polish, that supposedly works well. I remember people talking about it in the flutemakers group.
French polish is basically a shellac finish applied while the piece spins on the lathe, so it probably would not be practical for you. Tung or Linseed will work well. YOu don’t need to use a lot. Several light coats spaced over a period of several days should do the trick.
Kevin,
This French polish thing came up on the Uilleann Pipe board a while ago. here is the link to the site that explains the process.
http://www.rustins.co.uk/Frep.html
This may be just what you’re looking for.
-Paul