Reclaimed ironwood chest of drawers

[Planksmith]

Hello all

Got a big load of sleepers from someone who could no longer store it. Been a lot of fun getting it down to size!

Building a small chest of drawers, mostly just to test my skill and learn a few things, and I'm moderately happy so far. Still got a lot of work left to do.

Been wondering about how to finish the piece, wax, oil, varnish etc. It is ironwood, so already very hard wearing and resistant to insect activity.

Anyone have any experience in this area? Suggestions?

Screenshot_2016-07-17-11-26-09.jpg

[AngelaPetruzzi]

You should be more than moderately happy, to achieve that from sleepers.
IMPO, nothing beats a natural penetrating oil. The dense timber would absorb next to nothing, will highlight and intensify the beautiful timber colour, easy to do and wont put an artificial layer on the surface.
Good luck with it all.
Cheers

[Planksmith]

I can't believe this is already 2 years ago!

I had to take a break from this project, as 1500W of table saw is a bit pathetic and Ironwood (jarra I think) really works it over.

So I found a good 2.2kw table saw, spent a couple weekends fixing her up, and what a difference it makes!

All in all, very happy with the finished item. hand lathed the handles as well.

Most importantly though, it's straight, and the drawers run evenly