Oil for restored oregon french doors?

[Premer Stripper]

Hi! I have just finished stripping some lovely old doors made from oregon. I would like to use an oil to finish them rather than a varnish or 'hard finish'. They are very old & had lots of awful thick paint on them. However, they've come up a treat.

What would you recommend I use on them. I'm happy to oil them every year.

Thanks,

[Horsecroft88]

Your French doors sound great, a photo if possible would be nice to see. However, in response to your question re Oils for doors I am going to make a number of assumptions, so if incorrect, that may affect my comments.

In the first instance I am assuming you are talking about wanting to oil coat the exterior side of the doors, rather than interior, which means they will be exposed to the weather, rain, dirt, sunlight/radiation, etc. If correct, then the next aspect is whether or not the doors are relatively shaded from the elements or potentially likely to be impacted severely by such elements. If you were talking about the interior, then I would recommend to finish with shellac.

I will explain why I ask. I have with my home in Hobart, stripped, cleaned up and surface coated the outside of the doors as I too wanted to see the colour/grain of timber. In my case Huon pine French doors, a couple of 4 panel Baltic pine doors, and a cedar front door. However, and this is the interesting part, for one door (which is not overly subject to high UV levels (direct sunlight), as opposed to the other entrances, the surface coating I have used on this door has lasted extremely well. The French doors in my case have suffered the most as they open up into a courtyard with brick paving and brick walls of the house etc. Its a sun trap, and the surface coating has been severly cooked, meaning it simply doesn't last all that long.

I don't know where you are located if in Aus or overseas and again that too may have some bearing on my response.

What I have used on all the doors for the outside was Feast Watson floor seal (Tung oil with some poly in it). The problem here is that it doesn't have UV stabilisers and so hence if subject to a lot of weather, and especially sunlight/heat it just won't last. I would generally think that any oil used under such circumstances equally would suffer. Some oils may be slightly better than others but I would tend to think we are only talking of degrees of difference. Again, if you think of wooden yachts/boats with wooden masts/spars, decking etc, this is why the owners of such craft use marine varnishs, as they are probably the most robust of surface coatings capable of dealing with the extremes of weather but yet suitable for retaining a wood appearance.

I am thinking when I get around to rubbing back my French Doors and the Laundry door that I will be going down the marine varnish route, as having to sand back and re-coat these doors every year has seriously lost its appeal to me. Also the doors are weathing quite badly, and if left could end up resulting in damage to the timber.

[Premer Stripper]

Thanks Horsecroft 88, here's some answers.

We live near Coonabarabran in country NSW & we're building a cottage. We were lucky enough to be able to get all of these doors from a chap who was demolishing a house & they only cost us a case of beer! It does get both very hot & quite cold here. The french doors are all under cover & not exposed to direct weather - neither is the front door which you can see in one of the photos. The two other doors will be exposed to southerly & easterly weather respectively.

So, if I'm reading your response correctly, you would recommend a varnish for the external sides of the two doors but I could probably get away with oil for the interiors & the doors that will not be exposed to the weather?

I've been looking at the Feast & Watson catalogue & was leaning towards the Wood Shield Oil. What do you think?

I would really like to keep away from 'hard' & shiny finishes if possible. I've had a read of your posts talking a bit about shellac. How complicated is it & can you get a matt finish?

I hope this information helps

[Master Splinter]

You can get a tung oil with UV inhibitors for outside use:
Orange Tung Wood Oil

Dead simple to use.

[CMB]

Cutek CD50 is a product I'm a big fan of and UV stable. Tintable too.

Craig.

[Horsecroft88]

Firstly, I must congratulate you on getting those doors for a case of beer. That is a complete bargain, regardless of the work involved in stripping them. The French doors look superb and will be a terrific addition to your cottage.

Ok, now I have a better understanding of where they are to be used and how protected etc, plus the really helpful advice from the other guys I think this opens up some real opportunities to achieve your desired look. I agree, with doors like these you wouldn't want the shiny plastic look, and thanks guys I too will look into where to get such said finishes as I wasn't aware of UV stabilised Tung oil. That is excellent news and I too am a fan of Tung oils.

Back to these doors, what I would definitely recommend is use a finish for the outside coating of your doors that has UV stabilisers, for this will provide greater durability/protection meaning you shouldn't have to re-coat as often.

Personally with doors like yours, if it were me, I would use shellac rather than oils for the inside, as it is such an easy finish to apply and so easy to maintain if it gets scratches etc. Shellac doesn't like either water or direct sunlight/heat. Having said that, in both of my historic houses, pretty much all my joinery is finished with shellac. If you don't want it to have a shine (i.e. like a French Polished appearance), all you have to do is not cut it back with steel wool and wax at the end. Just coat it as many times as you think needed, I would suggest for doors probably around min 4, max say 6-8 coats. It is quick to apply (with either a paint brush or pad (basically clean lint free cloth bundled up into a ball/flat pad) and dry given it is metho based. It flash drys very fast as the metho evaporates.

I like to cut back and polish my joinery, but that is me. If you wish to know more about shellac finishes there is plenty of info out there, including on the UBeaut site. I explain in my thread on my projects also this process. Seriously it is not difficult at all.

[Premer Stripper]

Thanks!

Master, I've had a quick look at Orange Tung Oil on-line but I'll take a closer look. Will it be OK on the external surfaces?

Craig, is Cutek CD50 readily available? Maybe even on-line?

Sally

[Thumbthumper]

HINT :

If you want to reduce the gloss level of shellac, add a splash of pure gum turps. Rub this mixture in for the last couple of coats. The more gum turps you add, the lower the gloss level.
I like to add a splash of BLO as well for lubrication and nourishment.

[CMB]

Craig, is Cutek CD50 readily available? Maybe even on-line?

Sally,

I normally source from Paint Spot outlets but I imagine any trade supplier would stock it. Around $110 for 4 litres and $15 odd for tint. Some might consider it a bit pricey but 4 litres goes a very long way and as with much in life you get what you pay for.

Craig.