huon pine

[nine fingers]

What do I use on huon pine to get a finish that looks 100years old,that nice rich colour that came with years of oiling and waxing. This is the finish I want to get for the replica box. Want help please, regards John

[RufflyRustic]

Silly Suggestion # 1 - some dark yellow stain and shellac with wax aftewards??? :?

Silly Suggestion # 2 - err, use 100 year old huon to match the piece you are working on?:?

I have to ask, are you matching the huon with some older huon?

cheers
Wendy

[nine fingers]

Silly Suggestion # 1 - some dark yellow stain and shellac with wax aftewards??? :?

Silly Suggestion # 2 - err, use 100 year old huon to match the piece you are working on?:?

I have to ask, are you matching the huon with some older huon?


Hi Wendy, Thanks for the reply, new Huon pine to look like old John.

[RufflyRustic]

hi John,

Having never aged huon, I really don't know if my suggestions would work. I can only say try it on some test pieces first.

My concern would be what would the new and 'stained' huon look like in a few years time when it starts to age naturally?:?

cheers
Wendy


edit - the other issue is that Huon is natually oilly and you'd have to prep it to take a stain or colour as you would other oily timbers....

[Sebastiaan56]

What about Button Lac, the old form of shellac before it got purified as a matter of course. Nice aged colour.

[nine fingers]

What about Button Lac, the old form of shellac before it got purified as a matter of course. Nice aged colour.

What is Button Lac , has U Beaut got it. John

[Wongo]

I would apply a coat or 2 of either Danish oil or Tung oil then polish with wax.

[rsser]

Yes, ubeaut orange shellac will start the darkening process.

And wot Wongo said. Rustins DO is one of the darker ones. Organoils are among the lightest ones.

Bear in mind that UV and oxidation will over the 1st year or so do some darkening anyway. If you've started with one of the darker oil finishes in time the wood won't be readily recognisable as Huon.

[old pete]

Hi Nine Fingers,

Firstly after 40- years working with HP I've come to understand it's not a generic product rather it demonstrates enormous variability in its characteristics. Probably the most desirable of the non figured varieties is the hard dense fairly white pine that comes from Lake Gordon. This works beautifully and is relatively easy to finish and the finish tends to stick over time also. The other end of the scale is represented by soft low density orangy coloured pine that does not work to as fine a finish and tends to be very oily and to throw off the applied finish. I think this type comes from old logs lying on the ground for perhaps centuries and has lost something in the process.

Both types and all those in between will darken and go a buttery orange colour with time. I have a birds eye HP kitchen that took about 25 years to go from the white type colour to a dark orange colour and to me it looks great but I've had vociferous complaints from clients also about the maturation of the colour in HP. I think the change comes from the slow oxidation of the surface layers of oil in the pine. anyway the colour change does not penetrate more than one mm max.

For successful finishing wipe off the surfaces with an organic solvent such as duco thinners or acetone, both are highly inflammable so take care. Immediately on drying ie a few minutes coat the surfaces with clear shellac and allow to set off, say 6 hours. You now have a surface that is ready after fine sanding to be polished stained or whatever. If you want to jump the queue so to speak and get 25 yrs of ageing in 10 minutes take your job, after following my suggestions above, to a French Polisher. That's not a task to be undertaken by beginners with HP.

Best to glue HP with AV 180 or marine epoxy type glues. I've never had a failure with either but I take accurate preparation of the material for jointing seriously too so glue line stresses are minimal. Pre treat with the organic solvent before glueing as for polishing.

HP is in plentiful supply relatively speaking. I can direct you to the key sources here in Tassie if you want to e mail me direct.

Cheers Old pete

[rsser]

What great advice.

Greenie sent.

[nine fingers]

What great advice.:2tsup::2tsup:

Greenie sent.

many thanks Nine fingers.