Kev Posted February 25, 2023 Share Posted February 25, 2023 This was an interesting test and fairly revealing! The second coat of Fiddes really surprised me and not how I thought it was going to! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted February 26, 2023 Share Posted February 26, 2023 Kev, that was a neat video and obviously a time consuming one. We see that you are leaning towards the Fiddes but I’m wondering about a comparison between the Fiddes and one with ARS totally. It was probably due to yours and Marc’s influence that I have used ARS exclusively and don’t know that this vid has changed my mind. With far more experience than me, what are your thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev Posted February 26, 2023 Author Share Posted February 26, 2023 54 minutes ago, Coop said: Kev, that was a neat video and obviously a time consuming one. We see that you are leaning towards the Fiddes but I’m wondering about a comparison between the Fiddes and one with ARS totally. It was probably due to yours and Marc’s influence that I have used ARS exclusively and don’t know that this vid has changed my mind. With far more experience than me, what are your thoughts? It's a fair observation and I'm not really leaning towards Fiddes. Although the price point makes it more attractive, I wasn't expecting a "film finish" from a hardwax oil. Although I haven't run the specific comparison you're suggesting, I think I can make some educated guesses. I think you'll get a slightly better "pop" from the ARS but, I think you'd need fewer coats from the Fiddes to get the sheen you're looking for. I'll also add that it takes a lot less Rubio to cover what you'd normally cover with ARS. This one is tough because of the way the second coat of Fiddes turned out. Based purely from the first coat of each, I would have leaned towards Fiddes purely because of the cost difference and because I thought Fiddes tended to provide a more even "pop" of the grain. However, once the second coat of Fiddes went on, it looked more like a Poly and I just don't know how 1 coat of each would hold up over time. I just wasn't expecting what appeared to be a film finish from what's sold as a hard wax oil..! It's all so subjective and I hope that makes sense.. I do think a comparison to the ARS is warranted! Especially the way I like to chase it with the High Performance. Has me really wondering if I could be saving a step! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie Posted February 27, 2023 Share Posted February 27, 2023 Would you be willing to set a sweating glass of water on them and see how they react? My concerns with those types of finish is like on a coffee table that gets a glass left on it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev Posted February 27, 2023 Author Share Posted February 27, 2023 10 hours ago, Jamie said: Would you be willing to set a sweating glass of water on them and see how they react? My concerns with those types of finish is like on a coffee table that gets a glass left on it. Hmm.. Great question! I believe @Olie is doing some testing on some shop furniture. Perhaps we can get him to run this test before I get home from this road trip?? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olie Posted February 27, 2023 Share Posted February 27, 2023 Sure, I just applied a second coat of fiddes last night and can try the sweating glass of water tonight and report back. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olie Posted February 28, 2023 Share Posted February 28, 2023 Here is my report back on the sweating glass situation. I let it sit on a sample board I applied two coats of fiddes on. I let it sit there fit maybe 2 hours. I then saw the wet ring on the wood. Then I wiped it dry and didn’t notice any ring. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olie Posted February 28, 2023 Share Posted February 28, 2023 I looked at the wood at a different angle and saw a slight ring. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olie Posted February 28, 2023 Share Posted February 28, 2023 (edited) Then waited 10 minutes and the ring was gone. It was just still a little wet and went away after it dried. I didn’t see any difference in the finish or wood. A very quick method but I don’t think there would be any major issues with fiddes in this situation. Fiddes is marketed very heavily as a hardwood floor finish outside of the US so I imagine it hold up to water and other elements pretty well if it’s used in that purpose. Edited February 28, 2023 by Olie 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olie Posted February 28, 2023 Share Posted February 28, 2023 I will note that my final step after the second cost of fiddes and on this sample board before this trial was buffing with a #0000 steel wool and a little paste wax. Tomorrow I’ll show you all how it looks on my project and some general observations on fiddes overall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muttley000 Posted February 28, 2023 Share Posted February 28, 2023 Have you guys ever tried the fiddes, or Rubio for that matter, on an open grain wood like red oak? Would you expect one to perform better based on what you have done. I have been planning to give the fiddes a try. If this is addressed in one of Kev’s videos I apologize, I have not been able to watch a YouTube vid for 2 weeks and am very far behind! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev Posted February 28, 2023 Author Share Posted February 28, 2023 2 hours ago, Muttley000 said: Have you guys ever tried the fiddes, or Rubio for that matter, on an open grain wood like red oak? Would you expect one to perform better based on what you have done. I have been planning to give the fiddes a try. If this is addressed in one of Kev’s videos I apologize, I have not been able to watch a YouTube vid for 2 weeks and am very far behind! The African Mahogany in the sample (video) is fairly open where the maple is not. As for one working better than the other, that depends on the intended use of the piece and the finish you are wanting. The video is posted above. I'm also finding @Olie's glass ring test quite interesting! Definitely something to consider if you're building a piece that may get the occasional glass left on it. I'm pretty sure that I still have those sample boards so, I may be able to run this test side by side when I get home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olie Posted February 28, 2023 Share Posted February 28, 2023 Here are my end results of the fiddes on Cherry just to show another species. My opinion is that there are some attributes of a film finish as Kev indicated but I would put it more between a film finish like a poly and the rubio. Not quite as filmy as a poly. I sanded to 180 which is a little finer than the 150 recommended and I applied 2 coats. I did one final step after the second coat that really made a big difference. I hand buffed with a #0000 steel wool and a little paste wax. This procedure made it ultra smooth and gave it a nice satin glow. The ultra fine steel wool knocked off the filmy shine just a bit. With this final step you can finesse the level of sheen you want and can reduce the sheen by going over it at the end very lightly with a section of the steel wool that had less paste wax on it. Overall I really liked it and could see using it again. My main workbench is the forever bench from Kev’s videos and we used Fiddes on that bench but only one coat. I’m still deciding if I want to apply another coat on that bench but this will help me decide. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie Posted February 28, 2023 Share Posted February 28, 2023 Thanks for all the great info! The main reason that I have been reluctant to try these types of products is for the durability. I currently use a pre-cat lacquer which is a pita to deal will. Looking for something that doesn't stink the shop up for days on end. I'm going to have to try these out. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olie Posted February 28, 2023 Share Posted February 28, 2023 52 minutes ago, Jamie said: Thanks for all the great info! The main reason that I have been reluctant to try these types of products is for the durability. I currently use a pre-cat lacquer which is a pita to deal will. Looking for something that doesn't stink the shop up for days on end. I'm going to have to try these out. My garage still has some smell to it. When it comes purely to smell Rubio would be the definite winner and I actually like the smell of it! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olie Posted February 28, 2023 Share Posted February 28, 2023 Here is a natural light picture this morning. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev Posted February 28, 2023 Author Share Posted February 28, 2023 1 hour ago, Olie said: Here is a natural light picture this morning. Looks great! I'm going to try and add this info to my first quarter Q&A if you don't mind me using these pics @Olie? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie Posted February 28, 2023 Share Posted February 28, 2023 That does look really nice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olie Posted February 28, 2023 Share Posted February 28, 2023 28 minutes ago, Kev said: Looks great! I'm going to try and add this info to my first quarter Q&A if you don't mind me using these pics @Olie? Nope, don’t mind at all. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev Posted March 17, 2023 Author Share Posted March 17, 2023 I completely forgot about this when I shot the Q&A video.. So, I'll be adding it to the next video. Starting with my original sample boards. Set up some glasses of ice water on them and will leave them sit over night to sweat away. From there, I'll clean them up and video the results.. I will probably use some of your pics as well. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev Posted March 18, 2023 Author Share Posted March 18, 2023 I just pulled the glasses off a couple hours ago. Water is definitely sitting where the glasses were. I dried them all off and let them sit for an hour to completely air dry. The only water ring clearly visible was on the Rubio side of the maple. No ring on the Fiddes side. I tried numerous different lighting sources and angles and couldn't find any evidence of a water ring on the African Mahogany on either finish. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev Posted May 21, 2023 Author Share Posted May 21, 2023 I'm getting ready to shoot the next quarterly video and got these same 2 boards out again. I was surprised that the water ring on the Rubio side of the maple has nearly disappeared all together. Only in a raking light can I detect a hint of the water ring. That's roughly 2 months of just sitting in the shop but, wanted to give an update.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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