kiwi_grain
29th November 2009, 08:40 AM
Hi Guys
I have some heavy pieces of Totara (extremely durable native New Zealand timber) that I am going to use to make a couple of different coffee tables out of (xmas presents for parents and in laws alike). These pieces are 50+ years old and heavy (8"^2 in the extreme) and have been in the weather for the last few years, and although the timber has been kept dry for the last 6 months, when I cut a cross section through one of the main beams recently it was still damp in the middle. The wood is currently sitting in my air conditioned dessicator of an office but it is likely that the largest sections will still have moisture in them when the projects go together, so Im looking for a finishing product that will allow the wood to breathe. My plan is to leave the bottom of the legs of the tables unfinshed so that they can continue to dry over the next while (years probably), but still dont want to finish them in something that is going to seal the other surfaces completely... Am really looking for an oil type product and have read that teak oil allows some passage of vapour, although there seems to be water and solvent based variants around so it seems hard to tell what your getting when you buy 'teak oil'. To make things trickier Totara has an extremely high extractive content and can be difficult to finish, so would probably need to avoid products that are unsuitable for 'difficult' timbers in this regard. Living in NZ unfortunately all products wont be available to me but I certainly appreciate your suggestions. Thanks in advance
Matt
I have some heavy pieces of Totara (extremely durable native New Zealand timber) that I am going to use to make a couple of different coffee tables out of (xmas presents for parents and in laws alike). These pieces are 50+ years old and heavy (8"^2 in the extreme) and have been in the weather for the last few years, and although the timber has been kept dry for the last 6 months, when I cut a cross section through one of the main beams recently it was still damp in the middle. The wood is currently sitting in my air conditioned dessicator of an office but it is likely that the largest sections will still have moisture in them when the projects go together, so Im looking for a finishing product that will allow the wood to breathe. My plan is to leave the bottom of the legs of the tables unfinshed so that they can continue to dry over the next while (years probably), but still dont want to finish them in something that is going to seal the other surfaces completely... Am really looking for an oil type product and have read that teak oil allows some passage of vapour, although there seems to be water and solvent based variants around so it seems hard to tell what your getting when you buy 'teak oil'. To make things trickier Totara has an extremely high extractive content and can be difficult to finish, so would probably need to avoid products that are unsuitable for 'difficult' timbers in this regard. Living in NZ unfortunately all products wont be available to me but I certainly appreciate your suggestions. Thanks in advance
Matt