First Time Finishing - help appreciated.

[MF3106]

Hi all

I'm about to embark on my first couple of projects involving hardwoods - and would appreciate some advice on the best methods / products for getting a really good finish.

Up till now my finishing has been limited to polyurethane on pine!

I'm making a hall mirror out of Jarrah, and a bed from Vic Ash. I'd like a finish which gives a medium / low sheen. The Jarrah I want to show just the natural wood - with the Vic Ash I'm not sure whether to give it a light stain, or just to leave it natural.

Appreciate your input.

Malcolm

[arose62]

Have a look at this thread ...

http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/showthread.php?s=&threadid=7145

Cheers,
Andrew

[behindblueeyes]

I would also look at a tung oil type finish on both - to give a natural finish.

[Larry M]

Malcolm

Like you I am a relative newcomer to the world of finishing. I have made many items, in Jarrah and Pine, over the years and thought that there were two choices for finishes - gloss or satin varnish. That was until I found this forum.

I bit the bullet last week and went out and bought one each of almost all of Neil's products and 'the book'. A bit extreme and quite costly to do all at once but what the hell.

I spent yesterday playing and experimenting. I took some Jarrah offcuts, actually from floorboards that were used to replace my father's front porch a couple of years ago, sanded them and started applying different Ubeaut products to each one. I even sprayed one with hard shellac, because Neil said I could. It was very exciting seeing the Jarrah with different finishes, and working out in my own mind which of the projects I have in mind would look best with which finish. I would recommend buying at least a couple of the products, such as those mentioned in the post above, and trying them. My very limited experience with them to date has been very rewarding.

On the subject of spraying, I always find it a real PITA spraying small items. By the time you set up the gear and then clean it you waste a lot of product, many times the amount you actually use. Super Cheap has an air brush kit on sale at the moment, with its own can of propellant, for $25. You can buy an adaptor to enable it to be used with a compressor rather than buy more cans of propellant. I bought one and used it to spray the shellac as mentioned above. The result was very good considering my limited skills. For all those who have yet to invest in a compressor but would like to spray finishes, or those who want to spray small items without breaking out the full size gear, I suggest that you consider this as an option.

Regards

Larry

[ozwinner]

Hi
Organoil with Ubeauts EEE polish brings things up reeeeeeeal good.
It never hides the grain, or the bad sanding for that matter, sand to 1200 grit, at 1200 I suppose its not grit anymore.
Then wack on a dose of EEE, and buff with a powered buff.
I use this method when I dont want the full gloss of shellac, of the plastic look, you end up with a very pleasent dull glow, mmmmmmm.

Gotago I'm drooling.

Cheers Al, the dribbler
http://www.my-smileys.de/smileys_1/eekdroolA.gif

[Chesand]

I have used Organoil on a Jarrah Bookcase and coffee table with excellent results. It is important to follow instructions with the wet & dry paper.

[MF3106]

I've heard a number of people talk highly of Organoil - there are a number of products in the Organoil range - is it the Danish Oil you are referring to, or one of the other products?

If Danish Oil, could I also use this on Tassie Oak which has been stained?

Thanks for all your comments

Malcolm

[Chesand]

I used Organoil Clear Finishing Oil (contains Tung Oil)
Have also used Cabots Danish Oil on Sydney Blue Gum which is a very dense timber and similar in appearance to Jarrah. Result was excellent also