Bringing up Kauri

Hi all,

Picked up a rustic Kauri bookcase and need to replace one shelf. I was given some Kauri to do this with and it is sanded and quite pale. The unit itself is quite brown and dark, with shellac on it. i've scrubbed with some metho, which brings it up a bit into what i'd call a deep honey colour. Obviously the new shelf is much smaller in area than the rest of the unit so to darken it down would make more sense than trying to lighten the whole unit.

Having said that, i'd like the unit to get a little more 'blonde' or golden overall. I'm after advice on techniques/products etc to help me balance this out.

Also, being a 'rustic' piece there are some decent holes (from removed nails) and gauges that I wouldn't mind filling. Someone once told me about filling wood imperfections with wax that could be coloured. Does anyone know anything about this?

Jon

Hi Jon

Kauri aye! what a great find :2tsup:

By the sounds of the bookcase, a complete cleanup wouldn't go astray, i.e. clean it, lightly sand it down. clean off the sanding dust and have a good look at it.

Filling holes - you can use wax, but you may find timber putty better suited. timber mate or cabots have a range of timber puttys/wood fillers. You can find a colour most suited to the timber. If necessary, you can even put a little stain on top of the putty so it almost disappears into the grain of the timber too. Best thing to do, is test this first either on a scrap piece of Kauri or somewhere inconspicuous.

Once you've got the holes filled to your satisfaction, then I'd look at the colour of the timber. Matching the colour from the existing to the new isn't easy especially if kauri takes on colour with age - I don't know about this, never having had the luxury of working with kauri:(

Again on a test piece, try wiping the plain kauri with Metho or water to see the colour of the board, does it match the rest? you may find different finishes will give diffferent results rather than having to stain the new board.

Or, you can simply sand the bookcase back to bare timber and go from there.

Good luck, hope this helps.:)

cheers
Wendy

Thanks for your thoughts Wendy. I'm a little hesitant to sand it, as I don't want it to lose it's charm and end up looking too new or restored. I've used timber putty before on other jobs but not the wax. Can you tell me a little about it, where to get it, using it, advantages/disadvantages/colouring it?

Jon

Hi Jon, sorry, I've only ever used the timbermate myself, never the wax. To be honest, I thought the wax was for repairing/colour matching finishes, not fo filling holes.

Sanding back to bare timber does take away some of the charm, however, a light sand won't hurt it and won't take away the charm. a light sanding will be necessary, anyway, once the holes are filled.

Can anyone else comment on waxes for filling holes?:?

thanks
Wendy

Can't comment on the use of them, but have seen them for sale in a pack with half a dozen or so different colours in our local mitre 10 in the section that had the traditional furniture waxes and polishes etc in it.

Donna

OK! Thanks for that. I did the shelf repair today and a little skirt around the base. Did some more shellac removing. Will check out the hardware for waxes, I just get the feeling they're going to be better in this case than putty... Will keep posted on developments...
Jon