Restoring Oregon Pine Furniture

[Arry]

Hi Guys

My parents-in-law have kindly given us (well 3 years ago) their old dining table, coffee table, side tables etc. I asked what the wood is and they believe it was Oregon Pine?

As you can see by the photos that I have just taken the tables are a sort of golden orange colour.

I have no idea of what finish was used?

My wife asked me to restore them so last night I used my orbital sander with 60 grit and spent 15 minutes on one of the smaller side tables.

You can see the colour the wood is without the finish.

My wife wants it to look like it was before minus the scratches etc so my question is does anyone have any idea what I can do to make it look as close to the darker colour as possible.

Oh and by the way I have never restored anything before.

Thanks heaps

[wheelinround]

You tops look good and are an easy restore you've done well.

Minus scratches use a some warm to hot water or steam to see if they will raise back up otherwise sand till gone. Oregon is renown for stubborn grain but you can get it even and flat.


I did these last year finished with WOP

https://www.woodworkforums.com/f11/or...ghlight=oregon

https://www.woodworkforums.com/f187/c...ghlight=oregon

[Horsecroft88]

Nice pine table tops you have there as wheelinaround said. However, two things, firstly while part of the grain looks very much like oregan (ie. wide grains), they also look a bit like baltic ?? You can actually tell which wood it is by the smell, as the two pines actually have a different smell when cut/sanded, though perhaps a little hard to describe in words.

The second point I would seriously suggest is not to worry too much about trying to remove, scratches, dents, or other marks from the surface, since this is all a part of the history (or patina) of the table tops and actually would be a pity to loose them.

In terms of preparation, for re-finishing them, by sanding back with the orbital you should have removed all previous coatings and therefore no problem in applying a new finish. However, in re-finishing you really probably need to use say 150 and 340 grade sand paper and sand by hand initially before applying the first coat of finish. Thereafter using fine grade (340-400) paper between coats (once dried off). If shellacing, I would normally apply 3-4 coats before lightly re-sanding (doing this 2-3 times) until I am satisfied with the depth of finish achieved. Finally, buffing off with 0000 grade steel wool and bees wax polish.

Its up to you as to which finish to use, but and perhaps one thing to consider is the intended future use. For me, when I am restoring old furniture, I will only use a shellac ("French polish" finish) as I like to use natural products and this is typically what was applied to most period furniture. However, it is susceptible to both heat and water marking, and so hence is not always the most practical of finishes. I believe that hard shellac is more resiliant but I have no experience with this.

Alternatives obviously include products such as Tung oil, Danish oil, Linseed oil, or lastly polyurathane. Personally I won't use polyurethane as I find it too plasticky and if scratched or if it should peel then it is a real pain to repair. The other finishes are more foregiving to lightly sanding back and re-coating.

As to staining, you could but seriously, I doubt you will need to, for all finishes such as shellac, and the oil products mentioned will darken the colour making it more golden in its appearance. Goodluck with the projects and enjoy the tables.

Dave

[Arry]

Thanks very much for the reply guys, appreciated.

Basically all of the tables will be used with hot items and obviously drinks which could mark so my wife wouldn't really like that.

I have used WOP before with decent results, I am just not sure on how to go from the light colour the wood is to make it appear near golden orange like in the photos.

So you think oil or Shellac will change its colour?

Would be awesome if it did that...

Many thanks

[Horsecroft88]

Hi Arry, right then so you wouldn't wish to get on the dark side with the missus, so if that is the possibilty, I would then tend to shy away from a shellac finish (ie. orange shellac.) Albeit, though on reflection you could use it as a first stage to build up colour and depth of finish before say applying 2-3 coats of Tung oil.

I am not sure what you are referring to re WOP ? From my experience, while I have used Linseed Oil on outdoor furniture I havn't tried it on furniture for inside the home, and secondly, from my experience it won't build up much of a sheen. Danish oil might but you certainly would need to use a number of coats.

Companies such as Feast Watson make a Tung oil based product (which has some polyeurethane in it), called Floor seal and I have previously used this on my oregan pine (1930s timber salvaged from a demolition) kitchen bench, as well as my bathroom vanity tops and doors (ie. celery, huon and baltic pines used in the construction). All of which has come up superbly. The colour increased with each additional coat, with the colour in the oregan pine kitchen bench a lovely deep golden colour.

I normally apply upto 3-4 coats depending on just how much gloss I am after, and as previously mentioned cutback between coats.

If you are uncertain just how well it will might come up, you could always possibly try putting a coat of which ever finish you choose on a small area, on the bottom side to see how it works. Just a thought.

Goodluck with the tables, I am sure they will look great when finished. Dave

[Arry]

Hi guys

Thanks again Horse

WOP = Wipe on Poly

Tonight I sanded down the top on the side table to 240 grit.
I then sprayed it with water to see what it looks like.
I showed my missus but not happy as she said it is no where near the colour it was ie orange/brown colour.

Question: Will a couple of coats of say Organoil or whatever make it darker than what water would?

Should I stain the timber to get the desired effect?

Also as you can see the sides of the top are the colour we want.

Do I sand the sides or leave it?

Will be difficult to sand the side bits, I guess by hand?

thanks

[rsser]

Yes, oil will darken it but twds the brown end. Plain shellac will push it more golden, not orange.

Practice on the bottom. Expect that UV and oxidation will darken it further over time so allow for that.

I'd put on a few wash coats of plain shellac (seeing how deep the colour was getting) and finish with ubeaut Hard Shellac.

[Horsecroft88]

Hi Arry, Rsser is correct is re what the application of oil would most likely do to your table tops colour, and given the wifey's instructions, my guess is she would not be too happy.

If you apply simply water to a un treated surface, certainly it will give you an indication as to the colour and effect of the grain you can expect but, it won't give you a true indication of the finish and/or colour you will get when you re-coat wood with a finish (be it using shellacs, oils, or poly etc). I hadn't heard of WOP before so that is a new one for me !!

Personally if it were me, I don't think I would try to stain the table tops, especially if you have no or little experience with stains, they can be a little tricky to use.

Plain shellac as Rsser suggests will tend to take your timber more to a golden rather than orange colour, but you can actually get an orange shellac, which I have found from experience with old oregan will push it a little more to the orange colour, given the inherent colour of oregan itself. But as I previously suggested and rsser also does, using a shellac base coat before what ever you choose as the final coats should get it to where you wish and yes also practice on the bottom, since no one is going to be looking at that.

Rsser is also quite correct re oxidation and exposure to UV will over time also tend to change the colour, the key being though perhaps not to allow it to be exposed to full direct sunlight since this also can actually bleach the colour. The opposite of what you wish for.

I reckon Rsser's suggestion of the use of hard shellac has merit and something I too need to experiment with as I am yet to use it.

Re sanding the sides, I would if it is possible since that way then your table tops will be uniformily finished but perhaps best to leave to you to decide whether or not you can do this.

Having sanded your table tops with 240 grit is fine, but after giving it the first coats of say some base coat shellac, give it a further sand using 340 grit. Afterall I assume you wish the table to have a nice fine finish and you will get that by using fine grade papers. Keep going mate I reckon the tables should come up a real treat

[Arry]

Many thanks again guys

My wife really insisted that she doesn't want to wait until it darkens naturally, she wants to have them looking like that now, which I can understand.

I compromised and went and bought 2 small containers of Feat and Watson stains. I bought OAK and Walnut.

The OAK one turned out the best but like you say I have no idea how to apply it so when I did one section was darken than the other etc.

I have made my mind up that I will go with this stain.

If that is the case can you still go with any type of finish ?

She wants it to be glossy and mark resistant )

[rsser]

A spirit stain means you can't use shellac as a finish Arry. Go for poly, looks at 2 packs for greater durability.

And bear in mind that it is going to darken so in a year or so it'll be darker than the missus wants. OTOH it'll happen slowly and she may not notice.

You may well need a coat or two of sanding sealer first up so that the stain takes evenly.

[Tex B]

Some years back I built a kitchen island from recycled oregon. Mrs Tex also wanted the orange look, and I ended up using a walnut stain, followed by a low gloss poly varnish. Ended up with a nice orangy look. Unfortunately we sold the island with the house, so no pics.

Also made a workbench about the same time, and have finished the top with danish oil (wipe on poly would be very similar). No good pics at hand, but here's a pic of the bench under some jarrah, so you can get a sense of what colour it ended up with two or three coats of WOP. Not as orange as after the walnut stain, but still on the orange side of brown.

Attachment 126267

Tex

[Arry]

OK, am just about to go and sand off all the test staining from last night.

Tell me, what is better to use, oil, water or spirit based stains?

For a beginner like me is one easier to use?

Maybe the Feat and Watson one I bought is not the one for me?

Any thoughts?

[Arry]

After on another thread (more than 3 years ago) where I first asked advice on this I have finally got around to re-doing our dining table.

I have done the following so far:

1. Used pain remover to remove all finish
2. Used a scaper to flatten and remove large scratches
3. Sanded to 240 grit
4. Applied a nice Feast and Watson Chocolate Stain
5. Applied 3 coats of WOP

It looks fantastic but I have watched a video where a guy does the same but then applies a nice coat of wax on top to finish it off...

Would anyone recommend it?

I just found a tin of Gilly Stephenson Carnauba Wax that I have for polishing my table saw top....would that do the trick?

The WOP I used was Satin as I don't want a real high gloss finish, more of a satin one?

Thanks heaps

http://www.gillystephenson.com/listProduct/Maintenance/Wax

[rsser]

Not necessary.

The wax is more likely to show marks than the Poly so why bother?

[Arry]

In the video I watched:

How to Refinish a Table - DIY Home Improvement Guides - How to Repair and Remodel your Bathroom, Kitchen and more_

He ads the wax as he said it fills in any minor imperfections?

So you think don't bother hey?