# Best Finish for a Cocobolo  Ring



## endacoz (Sep 28, 2015)

I have had a request recently for 2 (His and Hers) Rings (I have stainless Steel Cores that I will be putting the wood on).   I am trying to figure out what the best finish will be on such wood.  

I used Pens Plus on a Lilac wood ring (no stainless core) and the finish didn't seem to last much and the shine faded, not sure if that was due to body warmth.  But I did play with it a lot...

I Could do a CA finish,  or what other alternatives do I have?  Suggestions?

I also have some red heart that is almost as dark as the coccobolo if that might finish better.


----------



## Bean_Counter (Sep 28, 2015)

Ethan CA is gong to be your best bet for durability. Before you put the ca on the coco wipe it down with denatured alcohol first. This will pull some of the oil out and allow you to get your first thin coat of ca on.

Good luck and post pics


----------



## jttheclockman (Sep 28, 2015)

Hello Ethan

First let me say I do not make rings but i do use many different exotic woods. My thoughts are, any hard shell finish will probably crack over time especially if the ring is worn under all extremes. By hard shell I mean CA, polyurethanes and even lacquers. I have no proof but that would be my thought process.

I would rather have the feel and look of real wood and for that I would dip the wood in Danish oil a couple times. This would seal the wood and also add a slight shine. I then would clean it up and buff on a buffer. to a high shine. You can add a coat of wax if you like. But what you have is the ability to polish the ring many times over without applying any new finish. 

I do this all the time with my clocks, but they do not get handled as much as a ring would.

As far as the Redheart versus the Coccobolo that just is a matter of choice. Coccobolo is a naturally oily wood so it polishes real nice. You say you have Redheart that is close to that color suprises me. I know Redheart darkens somewhat but not as dark as Bloodwood. I use Redheart many times and here is an example. I make these crosses and in fact made one for my Mom some years ago and it still looks the same basically. It gets room light and not direct sunlight but still not as darK as coccobolo. Good luck and post photo when done.


Redheart and oak with brass symbols and lettering. Red stained glass in base openings. All scrolled out.


----------



## junosdad (Sep 29, 2015)

I have a similar ring, and in talking with the guy during the purchase process, he mentioned (and you can see when you look at it) that the clear coating is resin...i.e., epoxy.  The wood is secured into a recessed groove so that there is enough room for a protective layer of epoxy.

Were it me, I'd take a page out of the fishing rod maker's book.....use a rod building epoxy (long cure time), and mount it onto something that will rotate at 8-10 times per minute so that it self levels.  Heat it up a bit (warm water bath) before you apply it so that it doesn't trap any bubbles.....I've built a couple of rods and had good results with the publicly available instructions...nice hard finish, water clear, durable.

A google search of Rod Building Supplies will lead you down the path.


Best of luck,
Sam


----------



## endacoz (Sep 30, 2015)

jttheclockman said:


> Hello Ethan
> 
> Redheart and oak with brass symbols and lettering. Red stained glass in base openings. All scrolled out.



Your work is so beautiful!  I am a minister myself and would love to see more of your work


----------



## Dan Masshardt (Sep 30, 2015)

endacoz said:


> Your work is so beautiful!  I am a minister myself and would love to see more of your work



Wait... Since when do we allow ministers around here?   ;-)


----------



## SteveJ (Oct 1, 2015)

Dan Masshardt said:


> endacoz said:
> 
> 
> > Your work is so beautiful!  I am a minister myself and would love to see more of your work
> ...



Good question!


----------



## Sabaharr (Oct 1, 2015)

Just a thought but I would think something small that will get a lot of wear would benefit from stabilizing. Even a hard wood has air in it and if replaced by resin it can help out the durability greatly. leaching out the oils before that could help too.


----------



## BSea (Oct 1, 2015)

Sabaharr said:


> Just a thought but I would think something small that will get a lot of wear would benefit from stabilizing. Even a hard wood has air in it and if replaced by resin it can help out the durability greatly. leaching out the oils before that could help too.


You're exactly right.  I made a ring from desert iron wood.  It looked great, but it did get wet from time to time.  It eventually cracked about a year later.  

I'll probably do another one, but I'll only use stabilized wood from now on.


----------



## endacoz (Oct 19, 2015)

My Vacuum pump arrived today (yes sunday) and I just ordered cactus juice from Turntex!   I'll be stabilizing the Cocobolo before I make these rings!


----------



## iMattDaddy (Oct 29, 2015)

I've made a handful of rings. Some solid, and some bentwood. I prefer the bentwood rings with CA finish. The CA is solid, polishes up to a good shine and is pretty durable. I don't worry about my ring when I wash my hands or forget to take it off to shower. It is stronger than the solid wood ring, and I don't think I could break it, certainly not as easy as the solid wood ring. If you have stainless cores you're using, then you probably don't need to worry as much about breakage. But for the best finish I would say CA for sure for shine and protection.


----------



## low_48 (Oct 29, 2015)

endacoz said:


> My Vacuum pump arrived today (yes sunday) and I just ordered cactus juice from Turntex!   I'll be stabilizing the Cocobolo before I make these rings!



I didn't think you could stabilize cocobollo? But, I don't stabilize so likely wrong. How did it work out?


----------



## endacoz (Nov 3, 2015)

I vacuumed the ring blanks yesterday and let it soak over night.   I will be cooking up the blanks today.  I'll keep you posted.  

I will be keeping this cactus juice, which has been now tinted orange seperate from the rest of the gallon I have.  

were you thinking like me about the oil in the cocobollo and how it will interact with the resin?


----------



## Skie_M (Nov 3, 2015)

Next go round .... soak the cocobolo in acetone to remove the oils, then slow bake in oven to remove water overnight, then straight into the stabilizer.


----------



## low_48 (Nov 4, 2015)

Oil and density of the wood. I didn't think you would get enough juice in it to make a difference.


----------

