Yorkshire grit is an abrasive
paste formulated to give a fine keyed surface to your turnings, prior to
applying your finish of choice. It consists of pharmaceutical grade ingredients, including mineral oil, beeswax and ultra fine grinding powders. These
are then carefully blended (without the use of solvents or other strong
smelling and potentially harmful chemicals) to produce a creamy
abrasive paste. Yorkshire Grit acts like ‘liquid sandpaper’,
reducing the scratches left by the initial dry sanding* and eliminating
the increasingly fine dust produced by traditional sanding at higher
grits. On most woods sanding up to 240 grit is sufficient to start with the Yorkshire Grit paste. The
grinding powders we use are designed to break down to a finer mesh as
they are used, while still maintaining a cutting edge, so as the
friction reduces the mesh size of the grit it is effectively forming a
finer abrasive. In comparison tests we believe the finish is at least equivalent to 1000 grit.
A note from the creator of Yorkshire Grit:- As a keen woodturner myself, I am always striving for that flawless finish, be it satin, gloss or that “dipped in glass” look. Experience
has taught me that preparation is everything; You only have to watch
French Polishers in action to have something to aspire to. We don’t generally take the time to slowly build the finish to a glass like surface as they do, but some of the methods and processes can be incorporated into our lathe finishing techniques.
