Finishing Workshop @CW – Surface Prep With a Fiber Bundle

The hurdle of working out-of-order on some exercises was one the CW folks had no problem with, an accommodation I credit to their being interrupted almost minute-by-minute when the shops are open.  Apparently the concept of continuity is nearly irrelevant for much of their work.  I am particularly impressed with their ability to work in in such a crowded, dimly lit space.  I know I was having trouble photographing them.

One of the concepts I was trying to persuade them to incorporate into their work protocol was burnishing the surfaces with a bound bundle of plant fibers, a recent addition to my tool kit as a result of copying some of Roubo’s techniques employing a tool he called a polissoir.  The same tool is known across the globe, going back several centuries in the Orient and certainly known in Occidental workshops for almost as long, making it a perfect fit for their interpretation of the English mid-18th Century Anthony Hay Shop in Williamsburg.

I had plenty of sorghum polishers in hand so everyone got their own to prep and use.

As is always the case the results were impressive as the tips were prepped with a sheet of fine abrasive paper, and then the raw hand-planed surfaces rubbed with the smoothed bundle.

BTW, one of the videos I am thinking of shooting is titled The Compleat Polissoir, which will be a much more in-depth exposition on the topic than I addressed in my earlier video.

The prepped polissoirs were employed later on as we explored the role of wax grain filling.