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Finishing

Building my first Cigar Box....

I was wondering if anyone has feelings on the best way to apply what finish on the cigar box itself.

I would think some kind of finish would be necessary to keep the box clean and prevent the paper from wearing.....

Are the boxes normally finished?

Thanks, Bll

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Permalink Reply by Fomhorach on August 5, 2016 at 10:11am

Linseed oil or tru oil.

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Permalink Reply by William Allman on August 5, 2016 at 11:47am

Tru Oil, Don't use Raw linseed oil (natural linseed oil). It takes forever and a day to dry. If you want to use a linseed finish use what is commonly called Boiled Linseed Oil. Its linseed oil that contains "dryers" or chemicals that cause the oil to harden at a much faster rate.

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Permalink Reply by Fomhorach on August 5, 2016 at 12:06pm

Yup, boiled linseed. My bad.

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Permalink Reply by William Allman on August 5, 2016 at 12:29pm

Did not mean to call you out on the linseed oil question. . Just didn't want others to make the same mistake I did.

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Permalink Reply by William Allman on August 5, 2016 at 11:53am

You can always remove the lacquer from the fretboard. Just rub it with a cotton rag and acetone. After all the lacquer is removed, just recoat with Tru Oil.

You can get a 3 oz bottle on Amazon for about $6... I have used it on over 20 fretboards ant still have 2/3 of the bottle left.

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Permalink Reply by Jonno on August 5, 2016 at 12:54pm

Thanx for laquer removal tip William. Gotta get me some Tru oil. I read this about it www.mandolinluthier.com/Hfinish-tru-oil.htm Maybe a gun shop would have it. I read about a DIY gun oil made of boiled linseed, walnut oil and turps. It was in a luthier forum. I'm thinkin it was gum turpentine as poster said it had a great smell.

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Permalink Reply by Titch the Clown on August 5, 2016 at 2:59pm

Tru oil is nothing special. It is just a simple tung oil based burnishing oil. I use a wipe on polly in a similar way. Wipe on all over then rub hard for a burnished finish, dont wipe for a more paint like finish. I always rub the fret board and fine steel wool between coats.

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Permalink Reply by Jonno on August 5, 2016 at 4:53pm

Howards orange tung oil sounds good. That lovely orange smell. I like the fact it is foodgrade. I wonder what the secret ingredient is www.howardproducts.com.au/orange-tung-wood-oil.html
I do love the smell of gum turpentine. Perhaps a drying agent for tung. Years ago whilst working for a bee keeper, I used to bring home huge blocks of beeswax. I would bring water to the boil and then slowly sdd wax. I would then pour this into 1 litre milk cartons and leave to cool and set. I would then puncture the bottoms and the water would drain. The wax which solidified on top of the water in the carton. Then tear off carton which seperated easily from the wax due to its lining. And behold, a beautiful golden yellow block of beeswax. Just had to trim one end which had bee wings etc in it. To mske the polish I would melt some wax in a double boiler. Leave it to cool to 37 degrees celsius. I would stir in just enough gum turpentine to give a butter texture. Into old tobacco tins. My ex and I did up some old furniture. The polish worked brilliantly. Made for a great gift

Permalink Reply by William Allman on August 6, 2016 at 2:11am

True (ha)... For a brighter shine, glossier than 4o steel wool I use those green plastic scrub pads for scrubbing dishes after the 4 0 steel wool.

Permalink Reply by Ricky D on January 30, 2019 at 9:04pm