What sort of Finish? With Photos

[yvan]

Here are some photos.

Pix 1 = lifting finish in spots
Pix 2 = after cleaning with metho/BLO/gum turps mix

Pix 3 = the top of the middle table in the set. Cleaned by scraping the finish, sanding back to wood, shellaced and waxed.

I thought I would do the current one using the mix without knowing that the clened surface would not take shellac...Ah well, I'll just wax it !

All comments gratefully received!

Yvan

[Xanthorrhoeas]

It isn't that the surface won't take shellac, just that, unless you can strip all the oil out, over time the shellac will go milky and not give a clear finish. However, a good wax finish - NOT beeswax - will give a good finish too.

[Luke Maddux]

I'm not much use at this stage in the discussion, but I'll just add that, to me, that doesn't look like shellac.

Good luck,
Luke

[rob streeper]

Lacquer?

[yvan]

Xanth, thank you very much. Do you have a particular non-beeswax you may suggest?
Much appreciated

Yvan

[Xanthorrhoeas]

Hi Yvan,

My favourite wax at the moment is UBeaut's Traditional Wax. A coloured wax is better for darker timbers. It has a high Carnauba wax content and some other hard waxes too. You can buy it on-line from CWS 'Carrols' in the Melbourne area) and possibly from Carba-Tec is there if one in Hobart (there wasn't one when I lived there 18 years ago). Otherwise I find Liberon Black Bison brand Mahogany coloured wax to be good and that is often available from antique shops.

I do not how how far you have gone in stripping (if at all) but now that I can see the photos it looks like surface discolouration to me. If you have not started to do anything you could try UBeaut's EEE polish to rub the muck off or Liberon's Burnishing Cream to see if they fix the finish without too much hard work.

David