Silky oak side board rescue out of order

[Blackout]

I decided recently that I just need to get my stripping and finishing skills up to speed first so this is one of my practice projects. It has obviously been left to the elements and came with a broken leg and anther broken foot. It sort of reflects me these days :) I have been practising my scraping on it wit a new scraper type (pretty happy to finally be improving this skill) then orbital sander followed by hand sanding. I run a few sanders that get connected to a Festool vacuum to keep the dust down (pity the hand sander didn't have a vacuum port :) ).

I also have been practising cutting and installing new runners on the drawers and this has been going well when I have the right nail gun ready. As some runners need heights that aren't readily purchased I have had to cut my own wood but know I need a safer way that hand a push stick. I was finally happy to use my #4 $20 plane for some smoothing and reduction of new runner materials.

For a temporary leg I took some recovered packing wood (pine). I cut to full height of the original leg and then cut out a corner lengthwise so that it looked like an "L" in section view. This was then nail gunned to the original broken leg. As fr the other broken ankle it's a temporary cut of wood under it. As I now have a cheap lathe (maybe too cheap when the time comes ) I'll look to rebuild replacement back legs later.

I'm not expecting great things from this but it has been some fun with the practising. Later I may actually pull it a apart to re-glue the dowels. For now I'm getting some badly needed practice and it will stop taking up workshop space. Next steps will be deciding to stain or not and then applying some satin poly (not good enough for me to spend time with French polishing :) ). I'll post more photo's as I progress.

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Top with front sanded and rear original mess
Front carcass with the temporary pine leg at rear left
Front with smaller drawers and one door. The plyboard on the front had to be removed as the original was far too deteriorated for my skills.
The stains in the top are causing me to think of finally using stain (haven't started learning this skill yet)
Drawer fronts show the grain I like showing off
Sorry it is upside down but I tried uploading several times and it kept flipping it. The bottom drawer need plyboard base added and then the runners in the carcass fixed.

It will be good to go back later and pull apart to re-glue.

Oh the sideboard cost me $20 which I thought was OK just for the wood and the pre-made drawers and doors which is how I look at these things at the start.

[truckjohn]

Thats a great project you have there - and some beautiful wood we just don't see much anymore since everything went to China...

[Blackout]

I so agree with you. I'm enjoying reconditioning old furniture with some amazing timber. I have another very large one I'm currently stripping of 2 layers of paint. This one has very minimal damage and when it is completed I hope to add a bookcase cabinet to the top for our library. Cheers

[Blackout]

Finally back to this piece with a second attempt to do the top with out the obvious marks.
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First attempt to hide the ring stains was using a stained Estapol but it didn't hide it at all so I started sanding back with the belt sander.
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Started with 80 on belt sander and finally the marks were gone without having to go too far. Then to orbital sanders with 120, then 240, onto 360, and some Mentholated spirits wiped over and finally 600. It certainly was smooth.
433283
(Sorry the picture flipped sideways) First layer of shellac rubbed in.
433284
This is 6th layer of shellac rubbed on. Very fine sand between layers to keep it all smooth. Really happy with the progress.
433285
Finally 8th layer of shellac but the humidity has changed so stopping for the night.
First priority with this piece was practising skills and second was recovering this for someone to use.

Earlier today I cut up some old ply-board from the back of a silky oak wardrobe that will be up-cycled to a display cabinet if I manage to get the layers of paint off :).
Bought some new hinges but not happy with the doors as the seem to not was to stay closed. It's like they are spring loaded. I suspect they are not the same size in terms of width but not sure how this mattered.
I have found some old silky oak ply-board from another cupboard I pulled apart a long time ago and hopefully these can be sanded and reused for the doors on this unit.

[Xanthorrhoeas]

Yes, Northern Silky Oak can have some wonderful figure.

May I please encourage you, when working on old furniture, to avoid the polyurethane forever and stick to shellac? You do not need to French Polish if that is troubling you, as even a very fine lacquer brush with 'nasty' (personal opinion) orange flake shellac is better than poly IMHO. At least it is easily reversible and does not need to be sanded off. (Also, French Polishing is not really difficult and brown button shellac is much more forgiving because of its high wax content).

That is the same reason that I encourage all restoration projects to use hide glue. For one it adheres to old hide glue very well and better than any modern adhesive will. Second, it can be so easily reversed with hot water that one never needs to fear stuffing up - just reverse with hot water and try again - no other adhesive can do as well!

[Blackout]

Xanthorrhoeas,
I'm trying to keep with the shellac. This was my first try at the stained Estapol in desperation. I thought the stains were deep and was wanting to cover them but to be honest it hid the silky oak but still showed the stain :(
This side board was bought for materials but I'm now finding I may have enough skills to bring it back to life :) Still got to think about repair / replacing the broken leg and the other foot. I'm really happy with how this attempt on the use of shellac is going. Do you know where to buy the brown button shellac in Brisbane? I have a partner desk and swivel chair to be reconditioned in brown shellac.


Tonight I think I figured out what was wrong with the hinges. I think the originals must have been thicker. I may now need to create some filer behind the washer on the doors and find some longer screws. Any suggestions?

Tomorrow I will hopefully have my first try at hide gluing.

Thanks for the advice I do appreciate it.

Cheers,
Nick

[Xanthorrhoeas]

Hi Nick,

I buy my brown button shellac from Shines (shines.com.au (http://shines.com.au/)) and have never had any problems with it. The hard buttons seem to last forever, which is just as well since I do not use much of it these days. As it is the raw form of the shellac the buttons contain a lot of rubbish that has to be filtered out, but you end up with a high-wax shellac that takes a great final wax (high-carnauba content wax furniture polish) really well. I do admit that this is just a personal opinion of mine - many others prefer the flakes or even the ready-made shellacs such as UBeaut polishes (and I do use the latter for some new items, just not for old furniture). The owner of these forums is much more knowledgeable than I am on the subject. I started using brown button shellac in restoring pre-1850s Australian cedar pieces because it gave the best match for the small patches I was doing, and have stuck with it for all old furniture.

By-the-way, what is the section size for the legs? I may have some square-section very old, dry, Northern Silky oak pieces that would suit. I have my NSO in storage for the most part so would have to travel to check. If you can find (or I have) suitable square section but you can't turn them yourself (or get someone else to do it) you could use square section for the rear legs - there is historical precedent for different shaped front and back legs so turned front legs and square back legs might work for you. A good, long scarf joint to the original corner post/leg should be strong enough.

My exhortations about using hide glue do not extend to new structural joins btw, only for re-gluing old joints that were originally made with hide glue. It's still true that hide glue gives a good strong joint and has the advantage of reversibility, but it may be (I'm lacking scientific evidence here) that a modern high-strength pva like Titebond III could give a stronger and more secure leg join for instance - as long as your woodworking skills are up to making a perfect join first time as there is no reversing such a joint.

[Blackout]

Hi Xanthorrhoeas,

"Shines (shines.com.au (http://shines.com.au/))" excellent, thank you.

I started using brown button shellac in restoring pre-1850s Australian cedar pieces because it gave the best match for the small patches I was doing, and have stuck with it for all old furniture. I need to develop this skill as I have a lot that just need patches fixed.

I have old bed heads saved for the wood and now I know about long scarf joints I can start experimenting. Totally agree about the back legs becoming straight legs (things can happen faster this way :)

THanks,
Nick

[Blackout]

The top surface is done for me ... I hope. It has been cut and waxed with the best products I have used to date.
Back to paid work and still a shed to complete with some saws to clean.

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[Xanthorrhoeas]

Yes, that top is looking good. I use those UBeaut products too, though I don't usually try for such a high shine level - but that is because I have been working on much older pieces where a high shine would look out of place. The ultra-shine certainly works a treat on the lathe.
David

BTW the mantra sometimes seen about waxing furniture to "feed" it is a false one. Timber doesn't need 'feeding' - it is dead material, it needs protecting because it is susceptible to changes in moisture content.

[truckjohn]

That's very beautiful - a fine job done on finishing that top... Whatever you are doing - keep doing it...

[Blackout]

These are the pieces that start as low value learn and practice pieces that I allow myself to just go with blonde shellac and show off the grain. High value pieces like my vintage partner's desk have to be done with the original materials and colours hiding the grain.

[Blackout]

Still building up layers of shellac on the drawers for the time being but looking ahead I realised I forgot to sort out the trimmings. This is where I need help as I don't even know what they are called let alone how to recondition, install and protect. Can anyone433670 tell me what these are called? Can you still get them? How could I recondition them without damaging them? How to reinstall on the door panels again?
Cheers,
Nick

[auscab]

Ive never seen it for sale that I can remember . Though some hobby outlets sometimes have some odd stuff like this for sale . Making whats missing would be faster than searching I think . Ive had to make similar runs of beading that comes off earlier furniture from the 1820s in restoration of Cedar or Mahogany . That's called knulling or a knulled decoration . Its turned like yours is but its finished as a quad or half round bead then applied into a rebate or a face if its half round. If you google Knulled you can see English stuff like this .
Regency Rosewood Cabinet by William Trotter (c. 1810 Scotland) by WILLIAM TROTTER OF EDINBURGH (1772-1833) from Georgian Antiques - The UK's Premier Antiques Portal (http://www.onlinegalleries.com/art-and-antiques/detail/regency-rosewood-cabinet-by-william-trotter-by-william-trotter-of-edinburgh/253598)

If you Google Nulling you get this sort of thing . different period and use with a slight change to the name .

Coffers & Boxes - Robin Wheatley Antiques Early Oak, Period Oak and Antique Oak furniture (http://robinwheatley-antiques.co.uk/current-stock/coffers-boxes/)

Ive looked in a few of my books and cant pin your type down probably because its not normally applied as a round bead like yours except for the period your piece comes from that I can think of ATM. A similar shape to yours , but its flat at the back or carved into ancient stone work shows up with a google of Egg and Dart Nulling , some of the images show it under the Egg and dart
https://www.google.com.au/search?q=Egg+and+Dart+nulling&client=firefox-b&dcr=0&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjawPyw7rvaAhVPPrwKHV9qBs0Q_AUICigB&biw=1120&bih=571

Or see under some of these ones E and D Knulling
https://www.google.com.au/search?biw=1120&bih=571&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=-gjTWq6qD8W58QXx8Y-wBg&q=ball+and+bead+knulling+decoration&oq=ball+and+bead+knulling+decoration&gs_l=psy-ab.3...32912.38404.0.41060.14.14.0.0.0.0.308.2348.2-9j1.10.0....0...1c.1.64.psy-ab..4.0.0....0.-Wc1yiqDMjo


If you can find a dowel the same size as what you have you may be able to tweak it with a file to work for you . Ive done the half or quad on a lathe and newspaper glued in between for the quad or half for proper separation . I think the easiest way to reproduce what you have though may be to plane a round dowel up and cut the balls in with the right carving chisel . That's a skilled operation and needs some specialized tools, it would give nice clean cut results . A lathe is a bit hard for such thin work unless its kept short.

As far as reconditioning whats remaining , Id just see what happens with a scrub down with metho and steel wool to strip the old finish and re polish from that .

I can see on your original the iron oxide staining where it was held on with thin Brads (small nails). A head would be cut off one brad and then placed in a hand drill or small electric drill. The bead would be drilled first , then put in place and re drilled through the first holes into what its being fitted to. Then it would be probably glued and nailed on with the heads cut off the nails ( Brads ) If its all finished some finish would probably need to be taken off . Or else just nail it on . Which is not very satisfactory. Once this sort of thing becomes loose it catches and snaps off getting caught on things like woolen jumpers .

Rob

[Blackout]

Thanks Rob for that great information but gees you got me excited seeing those great antiques :)

Can you suggest any book titles to help me with my education?

Cheers,
Nick

[auscab]

Thanks Rob for that great information but gees you got me excited seeing those great antiques :)

Can you suggest any book titles to help me with my education?

Cheers,
Nick

Yes Nick :U Book Titles is something I have . Are you just asking about Antique restoration in general or Antique Furniture ? I reckon a good start is this . Ive got a tatty 1938 edition . There is probably more of those around still . They have reprinted it . Because its one of the best books written on the subject probably. One of the first things I go to for the right terminology . It jam packed from A to Z with terminology. And lots of great pictures as well.
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/The-Encyclopedia-of-Furniture-by-Joseph-Aronson-Hardback/332621768466?epid=170016369&hash=item4d71cd6712:g:P5oAAOSw4HNaceeK
(https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/The-Encyclopedia-of-Furniture-by-Joseph-Aronson-Hardback/332621768466?epid=170016369&hash=item4d71cd6712:g:P5oAAOSw4HNaceeK)
There are some good smaller books on Antique restoration , Ill have to find some of the ones I'm thinking of first but here are some I like.

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Antique-Furniture-in-Australia-History-Design-Restoration-Anthony-Hill-Free-Post/322810101004?epid=95630805&hash=item4b28fb3d0c:g:GGsAAOSwA3dYkFGI

Another one, and a good buy atm . There is a few of these on ebay atm . A good book .

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Buying-Antique-Furniture-Feild-Rachael-Used-Good-Book/263573900000?epid=1823852589&hash=item3d5e3a8ae0:g:hMoAAOSwVHdau304

The more I bought over the years the more I learned . They all mostly have something in each that will teach a new trick or more . Id suggest make a start and keep going with buying books .

Rob

[auscab]

Here is some old copys of The Encyclopedia of Furniture but the US postage is a killer. If you could get one here maybe ?

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/The-Encyclopedia-Of-Furniture-by-Joseph-Aronson-1948-Hardback-Vintage/323165440310?hash=item4b3e294936:g:bqAAAOSwDTNatU1V


https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/The-Encyclopedia-Of-Furniture-Hardback-Book-by-Joseph-Aronson-1938/192057213323?hash=item2cb780818b:g:2ZYAAOSwU-pXs7Y2

[Blackout]

A big thank you. They will be a big augmentation to learning from the members of this forum and experimentation. :U

[russ57]

It seems you can borrow this and others from an online library.


https://openlibrary.org/books/OL5951422M/The_encyclopedia_of_furniture.

Linked from trove.gov.au



Russ

[Xanthorrhoeas]

For Australian furniture there are three main "bibles" as well as numerous other publications and catalogues. The most recent and the best illustrated is Fahy, K and A. Simpson, (1998) Australian Furniture, Pictorial History and Dictionary 1788 – 1938. Casuarina Press, Sydney. Two previous books with Kevin Fahy as lead author or second author could also be worthwhile if you find this one is of interest. As you can see from the title it only goes to 1938 and focussed more on superb early furniture but you can't beat it for showing you some of the best of Australian made furniture. It was an expensive book when published and still XXY. If you are interested it is probably available in/through Brisbane City Council libraries (but may be reference only).

[auscab]

I just answered a similar question about books here Nick .
Id been meaning to get back with more .

http://www.woodworkforums.com/f11/reading-material-furniture-220914#post2082728

Id get all the Charles H Hayward stuff you can and the British Antique price guide as well . The price guide is so cheap in that link . They must have over printed the thing!!

The Links are here as well

https://www.abebooks.co.uk/book-search/title/british-antique-furniture/author/andrews/

https://www.bookdepository.com/British-Antique-Furniture-John-Andrews/9781851496761

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Antique-Furniture-Designs-by-Hayward-Charles-H-0237449056-The-Cheap-Fast-Free/282783748874?epid=104532521&hash=item41d739930a:g:7nEAAOSwke9aGY1e

https://www.ebay.com.au/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=Antique+Furniture+Designs+Charles+H+Hayward&_sacat=0

The Aussie Books mentioned are great . On rare occasions I have seen some go cheap . Cheap for some of them is under $400 the first edition of the Faye and Simpson book climbed to $1000 for good second hand copy's . I saw one bring $400 once, on ebay. I don't know what they bring now. I cant find an image of one . I could take a pic of my copy , I don't think you would find one without some hard searching though. Contact Andrew Simpson in Sydney if you wanted to try, and still can . He may still have copy's of the second one ?
Here it is
http://aaada.org.au/items/?item=5104

The first Faye book with Dr Clifford Craig is a good one as well .
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/EARLY-COLONIAL-FURNITURE-in-NSW-Van-Diemens-Land-NEW-hc-dj-free-post/192367941455?hash=item2cca05d74f:g:rgYAAOSwO7haD9XD















(https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/EARLY-COLONIAL-FURNITURE-in-NSW-Van-Diemens-Land-NEW-hc-dj-free-post/192367941455?hash=item2cca05d74f:g:rgYAAOSwO7haD9XD)

[Blackout]

... for me to find. Yes, I will try BCC library and Logan library. I have been buying some old books Logan have been disposing of but nothing in this area when I'm looking :)
With family members in the army I'm taking this ANZAC to Monday off to get some woodworking done.

[Blackout]

Thank you for those links. One of those books reminded me of the flame mahogany side board I'm reconditioning and must post pictures. Cleaned door and drawer faces and protecting with many many layers of shellac hoping to make them glow with life.

[Doubtful John]

I decided recently that I just need to get my stripping and finishing skills up to speed first so this is one of my practice projects. It has obviously been left to the elements and came with a broken leg and anther broken foot. It sort of reflects me these days :) I have been practising my scraping on it wit a new scraper type (pretty happy to finally be improving this skill) then orbital sander followed by hand sanding. I run a few sanders that get connected to a Festool vacuum to keep the dust down (pity the hand sander didn't have a vacuum port :) ).

I also have been practising cutting and installing new runners on the drawers and this has been going well when I have the right nail gun ready. As some runners need heights that aren't readily purchased I have had to cut my own wood but know I need a safer way that hand a push stick. I was finally happy to use my #4 $20 plane for some smoothing and reduction of new runner materials.

For a temporary leg I took some recovered packing wood (pine). I cut to full height of the original leg and then cut out a corner lengthwise so that it looked like an "L" in section view. This was then nail gunned to the original broken leg. As fr the other broken ankle it's a temporary cut of wood under it. As I now have a cheap lathe (maybe too cheap when the time comes ) I'll look to rebuild replacement back legs later.

I'm not expecting great things from this but it has been some fun with the practising. Later I may actually pull it a apart to re-glue the dowels. For now I'm getting some badly needed practice and it will stop taking up workshop space. Next steps will be deciding to stain or not and then applying some satin poly (not good enough for me to spend time with French polishing :) ). I'll post more photo's as I progress.

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Top with front sanded and rear original mess
Front carcass with the temporary pine leg at rear left
Front with smaller drawers and one door. The plyboard on the front had to be removed as the original was far too deteriorated for my skills.
The stains in the top are causing me to think of finally using stain (haven't started learning this skill yet)
Drawer fronts show the grain I like showing off
Sorry it is upside down but I tried uploading several times and it kept flipping it. The bottom drawer need plyboard base added and then the runners in the carcass fixed.

It will be good to go back later and pull apart to re-glue.

Oh the sideboard cost me $20 which I thought was OK just for the wood and the pre-made drawers and doors which is how I look at these things at the start.

oxalic is brilliant. If the stains are iron based (rust) then a similar brew of citric acid will remove those. Oxalic is used to clean newly laid brickwork so the hardware should have it. Citric is with the food colours in the supermarket as it's used in jam making. The oxalic will also refresh the tannins in the timber giving new life. Use before sanding, will save lots of work. I was once a professional restorer.

[Blackout]

Thank you for that great advice. I tried to buy oxalic acid once before but sadly got a blank response I will have to go to another area and try again.
I have a few items around needing some treatment like this included an antique red cedar table.
I hope I get to read many more of your recommendations and explanations.

Cheers,
Nick

[auscab]

oxalic is brilliant. If the stains are iron based (rust) then a similar brew of citric acid will remove those. Oxalic is used to clean newly laid brickwork so the hardware should have it. Citric is with the food colours in the supermarket as it's used in jam making. The oxalic will also refresh the tannins in the timber giving new life. Use before sanding, will save lots of work. I was once a professional restorer.

Hi John , Im not wanting to sound like Im picking on you or having a go and welcome here with your first post . :)
I just have some questions and want to point out some slight corrections .
Spirits of salts or Hydrochloric acid is whats sold in hardware stores for Brickwork . Oxalic acid is what can be found as an ingredient in wooden deck cleaners. I use Oxalic acid a bit , Ive never bought the deck cleaner because I have a 20 kg bag of Oxalic acid and I'll probably drop dead owning 15 KG judging by the rate I'm using it at .
Ive never heard of Oxalic being used on bricks . Maybe your teaching me something here ?

Ive seen Oxalic clean up and make fresh wood that has been handled or dirty . Never heard of it refreshing the tannins though ? Interesting . Id like to know more about this . Id assumed it was just washing out the oxidised staining . Ive never tried Citric acid on Iron Oxide stains . The Oxalic does a 100% job on that for me. like its doing with Iron oxide stains ? Id give it a go though when I get the chance .

Any way with the last suggestion about applying Oxalic before sanding . How does this save work ?

One thing that should always be pointed out about Oxalic acid, is taking caution if you need to sand work after Oxalic has been applied. The stuff dries, turns back into crystals floats in the dust and you soon understand this with your first breath of it . So its got to be washed off before sanding if its been used. The stuff isn't good for you .

Edit.
Either is the dust of course. There are a few ways around this that I use. If I have applied Oxalic ,When its dry I wipe the piece down with a rag and metho then Buff dry .
I don't do a lot of sanding but when I do I like to wet sand . This can be very good . I put water over the job and sand with a random orbital and something like a 380 grit. Its after doing this I sometimes need Oxalic acid and would wipe off after this dries with Metho and then sometimes wipe down with an Oil and turps mix and fine sand that wet . Other times I just sand with an oil and turps mix. And I also fine sand with a festo sander connected to Its vacuum cleaner which I like to do with a breeze blowing past me and out the door.

I'm just saying this because I always try to point out the safe way . I have had to for years teaching apprentices in my business as a restorer / Cabinet maker . You may have forgotten some of this as it sounds like you may have done it a while back . A bit like I forget what I was doing a second ago sometimes :).

Rob

[Blackout]

REALLY appreciate the safety advice Rob and big thank you. I need to sit and review what I'm doing and the shed layout (eg: re position fan).
I've managed to get the citric acid. As for oxalic acid I get the "Whaaaaat's oxacilic acid?" so still hunting. I'm Park Ridge way so any suggestions appreciated. I want to trial the citric acid but no idea how to apply :)

I use a few sanders with Festool dist collector. Maybe it time for me to learn to wet sand :) :) :)

I assume you wouldn't use turps and oil mix if you were planning to use shellac for the finish?

You are making me realise I might have to start writing plans before I start restorations. You guys have the experience and wouldn't need to do this but my work is split over months and I'm a learner so it will probably help me remember the previous time what I was doing and continue to plan.

My youngest son asked why I don't just work on one job at a time so I explained that one layer of shellac and then 15 minutes wait for up to 20 layers will be pretty slow going :)

Comments from you guys make me love this forum. :)

[auscab]

Look at that . Oxalic acid is sold as a stain remover for Masonary as well as the normal timber uses. John was right there . Ive never seen it sold for that . Hydrochloric acid is the brickwork one and does a different thing to removing stains . I'm not up on brckies work but pretty sure Hydrchloric disolves the cement off where its not wanted.

See this Nick . Im not sure if its crystals or liquid . There are plenty of adds for it on ebay .

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Oxalic-Acid-Timber-Masonary-Cleaner-2Kg-Diggers-Rust-Stain-Fuel-Bore-Remover/173250522620?epid=1842548093&hash=item2856892dfc:g:OXUAAOSw-4BXYZY~

[auscab]

I use a few sanders with Festool dist collector. Maybe it time for me to learn to wet sand :) :) :)

Try it by hand or an air powered sander, not electric of course. It has some good uses but can be messy .




I assume you wouldn't use turps and oil mix if you were planning to use shellac for the finish?


Yes I use shellac over it . So did the polishers in 1860 onwards and probably for ever . I knew a guy that was taught by the 1860s to 1890s polishers . He started polishing as a boy in 1914 in Chappel st Prahran, Jack Liddel or Laddel not sure of spelling . lovely Man though . And The best French polisher in the Melbourne Antique scene in the 70s and 80s . So the guys teaching him the older ones he told me about were 19th century polishers. He told me they would grain fill and next day wipe the whole thing down in boiled linseed oil . Wipe it off and apply shellac the next day. You see lots of post 1860 red cedar and other open grained timbers where the colour has faded from the grain filler and now stands out . Around pre 1860 this wasn't done . It makes a big difference to the look of the piece.

That's Good old Jack on the left. Around 1980 . He was still working into his 80s

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Rob

[Blackout]

A big thank you Rob. Thanks to you I found that Bunnings do actually carry it even though they told me they don't.
Now for some experimenting

[Blackout]

Maybe this is why my 1910-20 table is so light in colour on the top compared with the centre of the boards. I might try some oxalic acid on the underneath to see how that works.
I was told of a formulae but didn't write it down. I know it was 1/4:1/4:1/4:14. Something like boiled linseed oil/????
Cheers, Nick

[auscab]

I know it was 1/4:1/4:1/4:14. Something like boiled linseed oil/????


Not sure what you mean there :) Just 20% oil the rest turps. Its mainly used for cutting back tired finishes before re polishing . Where it nice on raw wood is where the grain is standing up a bit like it does after being wet . And its something where your not wanting a heavy polish job. like if you made a chopping board. you can fine sand it with the o&t and then buff it off . it will feel very smooth and nice and lightly oiled . With a rubber of thin shellac very quickly put over it .Just a few . it looks great quick. And its nice and thin . Where the old guys were using it was for a different reason . They were letting the water based dry filler soak it up because it improved the way it made the light dry filler look.

Rob

[Blackout]

Thank you for the help as today I bought 2 kg of oxalic acid at that "B" store. Mind you the first denied they sold it and then not this store and then not in paint section until finally found in the builders section. Sometimes they make it hard even if you know the exact brand and name of the product.

I'm letting this project sit for a little while as I have a shed to reorganise, piano stool to recondition, sideboard to tidy before moving into house and a miners day bed to fix and ready for use. I'll be back with more photo's when I get some more progress.

Cheers,

[Blackout]

Found this option in the "B" store today
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