Finishing bocote

[Aaron at Wingerts Woodworks]

I've always used friction polish on bocote when I've made turkey calls from it.  I dipped a duck call made from bocote in thinned spar and it seems to be giving me the trouble I was afraid of...Still tacky. 

I didn't wipe it with acetone.  Would that have worked?  Or should I stick to Mylands friction polish on bocote?  Or something else? 
  

[VECtor Calls]

  for sure.  Bocote doesn't like spar at ALL from what I've seen working with it.  It took over a month for the call to dry I had, even after wiping it with acetone prior to spraying.  I'm sure there's a MUCH better alternative out there.  Might be a Deft situation, or like you said, a friction polish.  Bocote breaks my forearms out, so I won't have to worry about finishing it any more, because I'm not going to turn it.

Parker

[Al_at_THO Game Calls]

It's another one of those naturally oily woods like cocobolo so that may be the problem.  I have finished Bocote in the past two different ways.   One, and my favorite for a hunting call, is TEAK Oil from Watco.   It leaves a nice semi gloss shine and with the natural oils in the wood, the calls tend to take on a nice natural patina on their own, absorbing oils from your hands, and any good furniture oil will renew the looks of the call.

The other way is a CA finish.   But this is not my favorite because Boctote can be very open grained and the poors tend to fill unevenly, with light colored wood dust filling the darker veins.   But it does give a very hard and durable finish.  Glossy too.

Hope that helps a bit

Al @ THO

[stumpjumper]

I`ve had good luck using shellac.  I use tthe sealer first and then the shellac.  Buff between coats.  You can use spar or a poly after the shellac dries and hardens well.

Al I agree that a CA finish works but I had the same problem as you did sir

STUMP

[Aaron at Wingerts Woodworks]

 
I'll hang that one up in the basement and forget about it for a month...Might dry, might not!

I don't want to use Deft because you guys have sufficiently scared me about the durability of Deft on a duck call.  I honestly have the same concerns about shellac even though it'll stick to oily woods.  I never thought about teak oil...That could look really cool.  I'll give that a shot on the next one. 

Thanks fellas.

[Heirloom]

I had good luck with the mylands sealer under the poly or shellack.

[Bob from Eames Custom Calls]

My aboslute favorite finish for bocote is Tung oil with a buffed wax finish after.

 Makes the grain look a foot deep.

 Bob

[Aaron at Wingerts Woodworks]

I'll be trying the tung oil.  Didn't think of that!!!   

[RICK E]

I like using shellac to fill the grain, then medium ca and sand through 1200(6-10 coats), works good for me. gloss finish though.   rick