What finish would you use on these woods, plastics and metals. Oak, Pine, mahogany, acrylic and copper?
Hi. Okay, so your standard wood finish for oak, pine, and mahogany, would be 3 to 4 light coats of shellac or alike polish, with light sanding between coats. Then to finish, a light waxing with beeswax or other. For plastics, most are ‘self-finishing’, meaning that they do not encessarily need a finish to be applied, such as with acrylic, foamboard, vinyl etc. Occasionally flame-polishing can be used to eliminate particularly rough surfaces from milling etc, but usually some TLC with wet and dry paper is sufficient. Metals require a lot of work with glass paper or the use of a buffer, then a couple of coats of a polish, such as Brasso. Apply the thin coating, then rub it off again, leaving a shiny surface. However, if the material must be waterproof, then the wood or metal (not plastic) can be spray painted or brushed with an oil paint to ensure it remains watertight. These usually need to be repeated every few years if subject to wear. Somethimes however, woods like teak produce their
