Massey Finish

[Biggamefish]

I am fooling with this kinda finish.  I tried it out on some small pieces of wood and got great results after 3 coats.  I had to put it away for the night and then I tried it on coco bolo and another exotic (bigger peices) and after 2 coats they looked good.  I left them over night in the shop to dry.  It seems like they never dried.  Still felt tacky.  
  My question is how long do you let this kinda finish lay around before dumping it and does temp not let it set up?  It was getting down to the high 20s  at night.

[Jan Westphal]

Does this contain linseed or tung oil? These two take ages to dry or never do if 1) it is too cold, room temperature is good or 2) the applied coat is too thick.

[Buemaker]

Jan, I believe Massey finish is just Acetone mixed with epoxy.

[Pat B]

On some oily woods you may need to seal the wood first or it takes forever to dry. Shellac can be used to seal it first.

[Jan Westphal]

Originally posted by Buemaker:
Jan, I believe Massey finish is just Acetone mixed with epoxy.

Oh sorry, forget all I wrote then.    

[Biggamefish]

The only oily wood is the Coco.  I have a piece of zebra and a laminated piece (like action wood).  The laminated piece was the big concern because I can actually scrape the epoxy off.  This is really my first big go around so it might just be me but was just throwing the question out there.  I didn't use the 12 ton epoxy it was the 5 min stuff.

[goobersan]

This is what Troy told me

"If you can screw-up the massey finish I'd like to know how. I don't think it can be done. It's so simple it's unreal. Other than being time consuming there isn't any draw backs to it. Mix one part slow set (30 minute or more) epoxy to four parts acetone. Rub on a coat and let dry. If you can get to it between 6-8 hours you can rub on another coat without sanding. If time runs longer than that, you need to sand with 320 or finer sandpaper.

The super glue is what O.L. Adcock always used to seal cocobolo. He would rub on one coat, let it set for something like 20 minutes then light sand with 600 grit paper. After that he would apply another coat and then spray with fullerplast or thunderbird. It didn't fully fill the pores of the wood, but did make it where he could spray without problems.

I've always used the massey finish to seal any wood. I did use the Bullseye shellic sand and sealer on the last bow I built and have been told it will seal cocobolo. It's faster dry time really helps. One hour dry time and sand with 320 paper. I applied 7 coats in one day and the bow was ready to spray.

Troy"

I struggled with it and gave up. Didn't have time to figure out what I was doing wrong. Haven't finished a bow since, so I may give it another try soon

[Pat B]

I only use Massey finish to seal hemp wrapped handles. I mix the 2 part epoxy(2ton) with acetone until it is as thin as water than saturate the help handle wrap. It's usually ready to use in an hour. I never really measure a epoxy/acetone ratio.

[John Scifres]

Temperature affects epoxy curing time.  Use the 2 ton, long set stuff.

[LittleBen]

Epoxy curing is a chemical reaction, and the rate is obviously heat dependent.

Epoxy that cures in 5min at room temp might take 5 days at 20 degrees.

I would put it somewhere warm and see if it cures.

You could also just recoat, that might help speed the reaction, but I'd guess heat will do the trick.

[Troy D. Breeding]

The only problem I ever had with the Massey finish was when I tried making it with Smooth-on. It never dried. I've always used one of the 30-45 minute epoxies with out a hitch.