Beginner looking for finishing tips

[johnmelb]

Hi all....

Have been looking for a hours on the net about advice and then stumbled across this forum..... WOW! AWESOME! A wealth of information and full of entusiastic people!!

What i have been seeking is advice/information on finishing a bar top i am currently working on.....any advice would be great!

The piece is 70mm thick, 3000mm long and varying from 400mm to 550mm wide.... it is natural bark edges.... the wood is Douglas Fur.

It has been air dried for the last 8 (approx) years and is a beautiful piece of timber.....

I have it almost to the point of silky smooth but now just need to know how to finish... ie - wot grade paper to go over it with for the final sanding, what laquer/varnish etc to use?

I am wanting a glassy finish if that helps?

ANY advice would be great...

Cheers
johnmelb.

[Honorary Bloke]

Since you have a natural-edge piece (that is, the bark is still in place), do you want the glass finish to include the bark? In other words, do you want the bark filled in and smooth? If so, some kind of epoxy resin might be the go. :)

Can you post a pic?

[astrid]

what Bob said,
sand down as fine as brings out the grain about 600 should be enough depending on the timber.

Astrid:)

[MacS]

Epoxy is very expensive, and you need to know what your doing.

You could consider using either a Polyurethane or a Varnish, both have a good gloss finish.

Good Luck

[bucket1]

A tung oil based flooring finish (floorseal or something similar) would do this for you. Apply it with a foam craft brush and let the coat sit and dry. Rub back with a very fine paper and reapeat. Finish off with something like "EEE". I use brown paper on the ros but this can be risky if your not confident in what you are doing. If you prefered a more natural look then the rub on rub off method would do. Also might pay to check whether the colour the oil gives is ok for you on a scrap piece.

[johnmelb]

gday

well, thank you so much for all the info! so helpful

a few more questions...

there are a few cracks/knots etc that i need to fill..... i want to fill them with a clear type filler.... what is best to use?

also, i have been told to bog the back of the cracks just using any builders bog to stop clear filler running through? is that rite?

honorary bloke - the bark is coming off.... so just going to clean up edges and varnish over.

bucket1 - you said sand in between coats and use something like a "EEE". what is eee? is that a grade of sand paper?

also someone asked for pics, so here they are....

cheers

[DJ’s Timber]

EEE (http://www.ubeaut.com.au/eee.htm)

[johnmelb]

ahhhh, i see. EEE is a polish...

so my understanding is thus so far....

sand finish the timber to 600 grit paper, apply varnish, then polish with EEE?

am i right?

cheers

[johnmelb]

also where can i buy eee from? Bunnings?

[Gra]

also where can i buy eee from? Bunnings?

EEE can be purchased from a number of woodwork stores (Carbatec I know carries it), but its always better to get from the producer (Oh and the owner of this forum) here http://www.ubeaut.com.au/ubhome.htm