Baby Wipes... Big Mistake?
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I bought a new half-set. I was going to sand down and shellac them but I gave up because I wasn’t happy with how that was turning out either. I was spray canning the shellac and it was pooling up a bit
I should add - I’m now nervous to take the set out because I’m worried someone may have damp fingers and do the same thing. If anyone has a solution I’d be curious to hear it. I wanted this set to be a “players set” :/
if they are waxed and the finish gets dulled by handling, just re-wax them with a hard cabinetmaker's paste wax (someone will undoubtedly pop up touting Renaissance wax at this point, its a polythene wax, not a natural one and I have a possibly irrational fondness for simple solutions to simple problems). Sanding and shellac is a complicated answer to a simple problem and I wouldn't try to apply shellac to a complex shape with a spray can.
@felonet What did Mandeep say about the polish coming off with a damp rag? This gives me serious concern, as I purchased 2 sets from him this year.
It sounds like a poor quality wax was used. Renaissance wax isn't cheap, but it is a very high quality wax. You could try to restore your discoloured pieces with it and see how they turn out.
bingo
@greghunt do you have an example of the polish you're thinking about? Would you avoid Renaissance wax altogether? I know nothing about these things, but I will try these suggestions on my "damaged" pieces.
Ideally the wax I use could coat the entire surface and I could abandon my fears about water!
Did Mandeep offer nothing for a explanation?
He said they are “not waterproof” and to wax them with shoe wax or something. I can’t remember exactly what he said. He did offer to re polish them if I mailed them back to India. Honestly I’d love someone more knowledgeable than myself to ask the right questions. Mandeep is quite responsive to the chat bot on his main website StauntonCastle.com
I’m afraid I don’t know what to ask :/
I’m afraid I don’t know what to ask :/
Clean off the wax you currently have on there, a little heat (like a hair dryer) will aid in softening the wax to polish it off with some clean rags.
Get your new wax (Greg and I suggest Renaissance, it is harder than the beeswax polishes but you can likely find another decent wax for less, Lee Valley has an okay paste wax) and polish the pieces using a Scott's shop towel to apply a very thin even coat of wax, let dry to a haze and polish off with a clean rag. Repeat 2-3 times.
A little bit of mineral spirits can also be used to remove the old wax, just use it sparingly and outside with gloves on.
I think you are over-thinking this. You have two of us now saying, in slightly different ways, just re-wax the pieces. Why are you worried about water? If its a genuine problem then a synthetic wax like Renaissance is made for that, but I have my doubts.
Wax finishes need to be maintained, unlike shellac, varnish or synthetic coatings, so you'll need to re-apply the wax periodically, there is no need to strip it off, just clean it and rub it back a bit. Most non-synthetic waxes work and can be maintained (applied over the top of each other), they come in a range of types, hardnesses and gloss levels and I live on the far side of the world from you so I am not going to recommend a specific product (I use a locally made product when I want a medium shiny finish). If you stick to simple solutions you can experiment with different products.
Mineral spirits or alcohol in a cloth will dissolve the wax enough to spread it thin because thats all you should need to do (I'm not quite so concerned about venltilation if you aren't using much solvent). The key point is to make sure that the wax that you apply is very thin, if you get some build up of it, and that would be a real danger with the turned detail in chess pieces, then dirt will accumulate in it. If you are going to try waxing the sanded pieces then you'll need to apply multiple coats.
These manufacturers are making chess pieces to a price (people here forget that all the time, its a very price sensitive market they are in), so they are going to use the cheapest and lowest labour approach to finishing. Applying wax, probably applied on the lathe, fits that need. Applying a lacquer or polythene finish would be possible, but its an extra process step, extra labour and extra material and equipment cost. The 19th century Jaques pieces have been described as French polished, and that is a very labour intensive process (and also incidentally not water proof) and you're just not going to get that from anyone at the common price points.
felonet wrote:
He did offer to re polish them if I mailed them back to India.
5lb, shoe box size... from the US to India, is what, $50 USPS? To have the manufacturer re-polish the ENTIRE 34 piece set. Is it worth your time, effort, materials cost and peace of mind? Hopefully they will spend a bit more time and effort on the repair to bring it back to "OEM" quality. Whatever their OEM quality is. I'm assuming the manufacturer will eat the cost of shipping it back to you?
Not sure what you paid for the set. Is $50, roughly 20% of the original cost? Is it worth it to you? What's $50 nowadays, one tank of gas?
Or maybe just keep it as-is and use it as your "beater" set. It's broken in. No need to baby it. Lesson learned. Your decision. Good luck!
Well said Mr. Hunt. I agree wholeheartedly.
I merely suggested removing the softer wax in order to ensure a good bond and finish with the new wax. However you're right in that it's not absolutely necessary.
A note on lacquer: it does craze with water exposure and it does not have much UV protection. It's not a preferred finish from my experience, but it's cheap and fast to put on. I'm not a huge fan of it because when it does deteriorate it's not easy to repair, where as a wax and/or oil is generally pretty easy to recoat.
Why are you tying to reinvent things? People have recommended to you renaissance wax. It's because it works, it literally exists for this reason. They wax and buff chess pieces to get them shiny. Most chess pieces are not lacquered, you can buy them lacquered, and places like House of Stauton often have it as a separate finish option, but that brings its own problems, lacquer cracks and chips, and is much worse of a problem long term I think.
Just get a small container of renaissance wax from amazon, tiny amount is all you need. You just rub a cloth on it and then use that cloth to polish up whatever piece you want. And again, its TINY amounts, when you chose the tiny amount you probably already used too much but just wipe it off. That is it.
And these pieces are wood and they are not waterproof. Don't rub them in water or alcohol or whatever without a good reason, and its not the makers fault if you do.
Renaissance wax works, and you need tiny amounts, so yes you can save 4$ by getting something cheaper (its just wax) but why? You can also go all hippy on it and get some organic all natural bees wax collected by tibetan monks on a new moon but I have no idea which one of those products will work. Either way one small container will last you a life time.
Also pick up some random piece of wood and use that wax on it first to see what it does if you are worried about your expensive chess pieces.
Here is an example of an old lacquered set from some other post, now this is very old, but it shows what lacquered sets become like.
Was this ever resolved? Chess pieces shouldn't lose their finish with wiping with a damp rag. I'd be pretty upset if the sweat from my hands were to remove the polish on my pieces.