Black Bean timber finish?

[Toby97]

Hi all,

New to the furniture restoration game and I'm currently fixing a sofa made in the 60's by Wycombe Industries.

The arms on either end are made out of Black Bean and I want to get some of your opinions on the best option for a finish and also the best place to purchase.

I've stripped the old finish off with citrus strip and will hand sand it until smooth before I apply anything.

Appreciate any advice.

Cheers

[Alkahestic]

Welcome!

I recently finished a mirror frame in Black Bean with 2 coats of Watco Danish Oil. I think most oil based finishes will bring out the chocolate brown colors really nicely. It will yellow any paler colored sections though. If the sofa is likely to see some abuse, you're probably better off using an oil based polyurethane as 'Danish Oil' style finishes are not particularly durable and black bean isn't particularly hard.

Black bean dust is pretty toxic and can be a serious irritant, so take precautions when sanding.

[caillan]

Another vote for danish oil - I'm restoring a black bean sofa at the moment and used Organoil Danish Oil. Following the instructions on the tin, I sanded to 1000 grit and rubbed on 2 coats of oil, leaving 24hrs between coats. First time using this product, really happy with the result so far. application is foolproof too, which is good for me.

I really like the look and feel of the oil finish, so for my project I'm not applying any top coat (I might buff on some wax, but that's it), if durability is a concern, from what I've read you can apply a finish on top as long as you leave enough time for the Danish Oil to cure completely.

[Toby97]

Great, it sounds like danish oil is the way the way to go! I hope the sofa doesn't see any abuse so durability hopefully shouldn't be a concern.

Thanks for the reply's, appreciate it.