Ever coated a hair toy in polyurethane?

[MsPharaohMoan]

Oh I just remembered, for dust trapped in the substance I'd use steel wool to get it out. It turned the finish slightly cloudy but you can buff that up with high grit sandpaper

[Arete]

I have used it to seal a fork when I knew the person would be wearing the fork in the rain potentially. I used a spray polyurethane, and did three light coats. Had no problems with it being uneven or forming drips.

[Dendra]

I think if I was going to do a fork, I would leave a tiny bit of extra wood at the top so I could stab a pin in it and tie a string to that. Once it was all coated and dry, remove pin, sand down the spot and touch up with poly.

You might want to do a practice dip on some left over wood, see if you like how it looks. It does make the poly a bit thicker then if its brushed on. My one stick almost looks plastic its so shiney.

I do like the sound of that shiny plasticky finish. In terms of leaving a bit of extra wood, I'm actually not making a toy, I was just thinking of coating a pre-bought hair fork. I'm not very handy, I respect all of you who make hair toys so much but I don't think can do it! At least, not until I'm not such a noob. Maybe in six months or so

You can get a spray can of polyurethane to avid brush strokes, but like I said, you need to do multiple really lights coats or it will drip down to the lowest point and be uneven.

A spray can could be a good option, I hadn't thought of that...

I let the drips drip off into a container and wander off to the next thing I shouldn't be doing. Days later when I remember what I've done I wander into the science lab, sand pointies into the frozen drip blob, and flutter back away to some other random thing which is most likely quantitative business analysis excel spread sheets.

Biggest advice in the whole endeavor:
Slower curing resin is better, it gives you longer to get bubles out.
Mix it smart and slow, you want no bubles in the liquid muck.
Wait for bubbles to go away or if you're as weird, impatient and ridiculous as I am take a needle and POP THEM ALL!!!! bwahahahaha

Hehehehe, I totally identify with the things you shouldn't be doing part And I think I would get a needle as well, with my obsessive nature.

I like poly but damn is it hard to not get dust sticking in it. I found it way too difficult to work with ultimately and switched to tung oil. Love me some tung oil. Dust seems to stick less to it and you can build it up with multiple coats. Plus you wipe the excess off and it leaves no streaks... I just like it better.

MsPharaohmoan, is tung oil water resistant or just moisture resistant? Seems like it's a good alternative.

I've read that some people hand-rub the poly on in multiple coats, do you think this would be a good idea?

Again, thank you all for your help

[DweamGoiL]

This sounds really interesting, does this shellac have a specific name so I can look for it in Europe? Thank you

I use the original Waterlox. It is Tung Oil based.

[Dendra]

I have used it to seal a fork when I knew the person would be wearing the fork in the rain potentially. I used a spray polyurethane, and did three light coats. Had no problems with it being uneven or forming drips.

This sounds achievable for me! I'm gonna look up some spray polyurethanes online. Thank you

I use the original Waterlox. It is Tung Oil based.

Fabulous, thank you DweamGoil. I have plenty of options now

[MsPharaohMoan]

Hand rubbing is the only way I could do it as I didn't have a spray can version and it's so hard to not have brush strokes visible. I do it with tung oil too. With enough coats of tung oil you can waterproof.

ETA: spray can version sounds great, I'm really tempted to try it out now!

[Dendra]

I think it would work on a fork as long as you can get it completely covered before lifting it out of the poly. It can be a bit of a pain figuring out how to hang a toy though. I think if I was going to do a fork, I would leave a tiny bit of extra wood at the top so I could stab a pin in it and tie a string to that. Once it was all coated and dry, remove pin, sand down the spot and touch up with poly.

You might want to do a practice dip on some left over wood, see if you like how it looks. It does make the poly a bit thicker then if its brushed on. My one stick almost looks plastic its so shiney.

You can get a spray can of polyurethane to avid brush strokes, but like I said, you need to do multiple really lights coats or it will drip down to the lowest point and be uneven.

I have used bowling ball plug resin to make hair sticks. Which is for sure polyurethane. They turned out fine. But it was molded. And that stuff sets pretty fast. Had to sand a little bit but twas fine.

I regularly resin dip wood things because I have about 5 other important things I could be doing but would rather waste resin on my crazy experiments. I attach a string, dunk and hang. I let the drips drip off into a container and wander off to the next thing I shouldn't be doing. Days later when I remember what I've done I wander into the science lab, sand pointies into the frozen drip blob, and flutter back away to some other random thing which is most likely quantitative business analysis excel spread sheets.

Biggest advice in the whole endeavor:
Slower curing resin is better, it gives you longer to get bubles out.
Mix it smart and slow, you want no bubles in the liquid muck.
Wait for bubbles to go away or if you're as weird, impatient and ridiculous as I am take a needle and POP THEM ALL!!!! bwahahahaha
As a lazy person I tie the string through the file Handel of the metal file that I ruined because I am irresponsible and then put a brick on the file with the handle over the edge of the catastrophe I call a work desk. (Tie it to the thing first)
Dip, hang, ignore, sand, polish and tah-de-dah!

I agree that dipping is awesome but then you have the problem of having a pinhole in your piece :/ the sword I have available on the random acts of kindness thread has a pinhole in it from when it was dipped.

I like poly but damn is it hard to not get dust sticking in it. I found it way too difficult to work with ultimately and switched to tung oil. Love me some tung oil. Dust seems to stick less to it and you can build it up with multiple coats. Plus you wipe the excess off and it leaves no streaks... I just like it better.

Hand rubbing is the only way I could do it as I didn't have a spray can version and it's so hard to not have brush strokes visible. I do it with tung oil too. With enough coats of tung oil you can waterproof.

ETA: spray can version sounds great, I'm really tempted to try it out now!

Wow I didn't know that with enough coats that tung oil would waterproof, I will look into that. I think I'd do well with hand rubbing over using a brush too.

I looked up Waterlox and it seems to have changed its name to American Wood Oil Transparent Gold, and it costs over £100 on Amazon! I guess it's hard to get hold of, and it is quite a big tin of the product.

I found a spray polyurethane (by Rustoleum) too, which has mixed reviews, with people saying that it was hard to apply and left an uneven coat, and one person said it yellowed their project. But if it's worked for people on here then it could be worth a go.

[LongCurlyTress]

I have used clear nailpolish to coat my wooden hairforks and it does work. Just make sure to let it dry completely before doing the other side. In fact, I used 5 inch wooden knitting needles for my first hairtoy and used a pearl pink nailpolish. Completely waterproof with the pearl pink nailpolish!!

[Dendra]

Oh wow, LongCurlyTress, that's a great idea! And you didn't get any blobby bits?