Finishing river redgum

[MikeK]

Hi,

I managed to pick up some very nice river redgum. It will be used to make a chest of drawers. I need some suggestions on the best way to finish it. I really want the deep colours and figure to come out.

Regards,
Mike.

[Auld Bassoon]

Hi Mike,

My choice would be Danish Oil (or Tung Oil), finished off with uBeaut traditional wax.

Cheers!

[ozwinner]

Or shellac.


Al

[TEEJAY]

The oil gives a beautiful deep rich red colour but do make absolutely sure the oil coats are dry before you apply the wax or you will make the same mistake as me :eek:

Don't be shy though - do it correctly it's great.

Cheers

[Auld Bassoon]

Yep,

TeeJay's right about the oil needing to be dry. Have also learnt the hard way...

[Harry II]

Yep,

TeeJay's right about the oil needing to be dry. Have also learnt the hard way...

so has long does it take for the oil to dry or is that a how long is a bit of string question

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

so has long does it take for the oil to dry or is that a how long is a bit of string question

Here in SE Vic on a typical winters day, 100% pure Tung Oil takes just under 24 hours in my unheated, galv shed. 'Tis touch dry in only a few, but that's deceiving... I've stuffed a job or two by being over-eager.

So-called Danish's are quicker by about half, ~12 hours for Rustin's.

Hotter weather means quicker curing but I couldn't tell you how long. I like to do 1 coat per day with any finish I do, just to be on the safe side.

[Auld Bassoon]

Hotter weather means quicker curing but I couldn't tell you how long. I like to do 1 coat per day with any finish I do, just to be on the safe side.

Does anyone know of a reliable method to determine if a finish is ready for another coat, or a sanding, etc.?

Through some lessons learnt I'm like Skew in that I don't apply more than one coat of anything, except perhaps, Shellac, in any one day, but it would be very useful to know if the coating was ready through a non-invasive method - perhaps using an offcut or two treated similarly?

Cheers!

[markharrison]

I've used Organoil and wax (Ubeaut in this case) on Redgum and it looks beautiful.

The top was power wet sanded to 800 as per the manufacturer's specifications. The rest was hand sanded to a lower grit level but still looks nice.

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

That's how I'd do it, if I really needed to know. I'd prefer a hidden spot on the item, (eg. behind a drawer) but if such a spot doesn't exist I'd fall back to using an offcut of the same material.

[silentC]

I finished this box with three coats of UBeaut Sanding Sealer and two coats of UBeaut Traditional Wax. I tried a bit of Linseed Oil on a test bit to pop the grain but it came out very red and I didn't like it, so I stuck with the natural colour.