Woodturning Abrasive Paste - Make Your Own?

Make your own abrasive paste for woodturning from mineral oil, beeswax and a secret abrasive ingredient I will show you. My DIY blend of sanding paste is like liquid sandpaper, works great, is cheaper than commercial alternatives and allows you to get a smooth scratch free finish with less sanding and less sanding dust!

I upload new wood turning videos regularly so Ya’ll come back, hear?

[MikePeaceWoodturning]

I am posting this email warning I received that I felt was worth sharing. I did check what I am using from Home Depot - it is 100% DE.

Thanks so much for your very clear tutorials, and I appreciate the fraternal, non-competitive spirit between you and Mr. Vilarino. It’s a refreshing break from the typical self-promotion seen on Youtube.
When talking about your abrasive paste recipe in the future, could you please consider including a one or two-sentence precision regarding the importance of selecting only products clearly labelled as 100% pure diatomaceous earth? As you’ll see below, I think that it is a real risk that eager woodturners walk into potential health hazards, when all they want to do is to have fun turning.
Today, I asked around town for diatomaceous earth, and predictably, merchants guided me to the pesticide section, pointing out three products by three different companies. The big HOWEVER is that all the labels on those three available products stated (in small writing that required a great deal of squinting) that they were composed of a certain percentage (80% in one case) of 100% diatomaceous earth, which sounds confusing to start off with. The 100% sounded reassuring, but the 80% less so. I guessed that the 20% remaining was perhaps composed of just benign fillers, but further reading vaguely indicated that the other 20% was composed of “attractant agents, ” with no more details than that.
Only the manufacturers know what those attractant agents are composed of, and they don't have to tell us, since the product follows pesticide regulations, and not those pertaining to product sold for woodworking. We do not know what that 20% might release under friction into the workshops of eager woodworkers who unknowingly use them beyond their original purpose. Safety aside, that dubious 20% could have an impact on the quality of the finish to be applied afterwards. Even if they were only composed of inoffensive sweeteners and pheromones, I’m not convinced that 20% sugar and pheromones are a stable undercoat for any type of finish.
Might I suggest that you mention specifically in the future that various formulae of products exist, several of which are composed only in part of diatomaceous earth? A sure-fire way to avoid problems seems to be to select 100% pure food-grade options, which are safe enough to be ingested by farm animals. Unfortunately, I can only get such food-grade products online, but maybe others will have more luck than me. Though people might pay more for it (28 CAD for 5 lbs in my case), they will be guaranteed safety, and better chances of a consistent finish.
Thank you, and all the best,
Ron McKay, Shefford, Québec, Canada

[DanielVilarino]

Hi Mike, thanks for the shout out and the link to my video! I enjoyed yours a lot! Isn't that paste great? Your paste is a bit looser than my formula (because of the extra ounce of mineral oil) and you are absolutely right about the smell and being it food safe, two important advantages regarding some commercially available pastes. Cheers! Daniel

[tangleridgeturnings]

Thanks so much for always putting out such informative videos and sharing. I made abrasive paste today, and instead of standing and stirring for 20 minutes to half an hour, I put my container in an ice bath and stirred and it set up in about 12 minutes.

[howardmount]

Thank you. I always prefer to utilize something I made myself, to me it increases the pride I have in an accomplished project.

[makenchips]

Excellent review and your honest discussion on this subject. It's interesting that there are no ads sheet on some of these product.

[slorts]

I just made this today and used it on a goblet I turned this week. It worked amazing. I stumbled on your channel not too long ago and became and instant subscriber. I am taking my time and going through them all and learning something from each one of them. You are an amazing woodcrafter and an equally amazing teacher. Thank you. Steve

[dozukime]

Thanks for the tip, no more sanding dust, I'm using 50/50 lamp oil & liquid bees wax. But! this system is making me lazy, it's so efficient, after roughing I can start sanding with 180 & work up to 800 to a perfect finish. I first saw this by capt Eddy, he called it "shine juice". Your vid reminded me of it, as I was busy with other projects than lathe work. You got me hooked on "awls", like you said"you will want to make more". Thanks, you got me back on the lathe!

[charlesbrown]

Mike excellent video, and information . I use a bees wax / mineral oil mix on my finished bowls as a basic coating . Then when I am getting ready to sell them, I wipe them down and just coat them with mineral oil . I also use the max mix to work out tearing of end grain, with a coating on the tear out area, wipe down with a tack cloth, and then a gentle pass of a sharpened round nose scraper, Again thank you for the video !!

[Sludgepump]

Thanks Mike! Never heard or thought of using diatomaceous earth before. Good idea! Sounds finer than pumice or rotten stone. Must give that a try. Big thanks for the pointers.

[makenchips]

Got a stainless steel mini wisk in forage sale .25 cents wotkd great, put in hand drill to mix. We should find out at what temperature the was is solidifies and will hold the particles in suspension but is still soft.

[FlyingMerf]

Thank you for another very useful video! Diatomaceous earth looks like a bland powder, but if you ever get a chance to look at diatomaceous earth through a microscope you will see a multitude of tiny diatome skeletons in a variety of shapes - quite beautiful.

[vinsavmom]

I made both the sanding butter and abrasive paste. Both work great!! Thanks for the videos and formulas.

[ronswoodturningshopandstuf]

I used Daniels formula with both the diamotaceaus earth and the Rottenstone(one each). I use the Rottenstone darker paste on spalted woods. It highlights the spalt lines nicely.

[billy]

Thanks for mentioning Daniel. I learn a lot from you.

[PHIL_S]

Mike thank you for this I have been waiting all week for your wisdom and tips/tricks - woot! BTW it was on the table behind you in a past video!

[johnwallace]

This I am going to have to try! SAFE TURNING, John

[jlk]

I've made it. Works great. I actually mentioned it at my wood turning club the other night and they asked me to do a demo. So these are timely videos for me and the slow cooker idea is perfect. I think we'll make up some sanding butter and abrasive paste for everyone to take home.

[anthonyvelotta]

Love your videos super helpful. One thing that would be nice though for those of us listening on headphones is there are quite a bit of very loud abrupt sounds (sanding) is there a way to knock those down to save the good old ears. Again thanks for making the vids love em.

[outinthesticks]

I saw a vid by Kim tipping for making this last year and on a cold winter night, decided to make some . But I did not have mineral oil and didn't want to wait till a trip to town to get some, so substituted canola cooking oil . It cooled to a solid bar . It seems to work satisfactory, but can be applied by holding the bar on spinning work piece

[so]

Thanks, Mike!  My father is a beekeeper,  so I love to use bee's wax in some of my recipes for finishing.. the sanding paste is a great idea! I'm sitting on a few pounds of wax from this summers honey harvest.. going to try this paste ASAP!