Friction-Lac Sticks — First Edition Set

A solid friction polish for the lathe. Three handmade lac sticks — red, yellow, and blue — worked directly against a spinning turning to build a hard, glossy finish in minutes.

Lac Turning is a centuries-old tradition where colorful shellac sticks are pressed against spinning wood on the lathe. The friction melts the contact point on the stick, and spreads a layer of rich color across the piece. Burnishing follows, traditionally using a locally sourced palm leaf, and leaves a durable mirror polished finish. The heat transforms the lac into something entirely different, almost like a ceramic surface, saturated with color and very long-lasting.

New to lac turning? The full technique walkthrough — pressure, the leaf, and the oil, with video from our bench and from the Channapatna workshops — is here: Lac Turning, In Practice.

First Edition, 2026. Made by a Channapatna cottage producer sourced specifically for this project — the same craft tradition behind India's lacquered toy and bangle work, turned here to a woodturner's friction stick. Each set is hand-numbered, one of 30.

The color runs through the stick, not on top of it — what you see through the window is what goes onto the wood. A first run of traditional colors: Red, Yellow, Blue.

Includes a voivoi pandanus burnishing leaf, hand-processed by artisans of Rise Beyond the Reef in Fiji.

Made in India.