Finishing rough bark

[dragonboy]

I have a rough looking coffee table made out of a piece of redgum that has a flat side and a round side (i.e. the outside of the tree). It is essentially the remains of a tree that has been cut into slabs.

I would like to finish the flat side with shellac and wax, but i am unsure what to finish the rough side with. I have seen bark finished with a thick epoxy type finish before, but that is not the look i am after.

Any suggestions?

[echnidna]

redgum bark usually falls off when the timber is dry

[dragonboy]

Ok, so its not the bark, bad choice of words. Its the sapwood plus some remaining bark. However the point is i want to keep the rough look on that surface while having a smooth polished upper side.

If i could work out how to attach a picture i would.

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

I did a similar table a few months ago, 'cept 'twas only a 4" slab, but the customer wanted it to keep the natural sides. She also wanted it waxed but able to stand up to being knocked around by her grand-toddlers.

Firstly, several coats of tung oil, allowing a few minutes for penetration and then wiping off the excess, to enhance the grain & colour. I used tung instead of danish for longer working time and, IMHO, better penetration qualities.

Secondly, a coat of Rustins Plastic Coating to seal it. I wet-sanded the top surface with it for a satin finish but left the sides and bottom with the "default" gloss finish.

Finally I waxed the top, buffing it to bring it back to a near mirror finish. I probably could've done away with the prior wet-sanding but I'm not sure how well wax'd adhere to the Rustin's without keying it and I didn't have enough time, scraps nor patience to find out at the time. [shrug]

FWIW, I'm definitely no finishing guru; I'm pretty sure there're experts out there who cringe at my ideas of what constitutes a finish. But the customer was (and still is) happy with it and that's the important thing, right?

[dragonboy]

Cheers for that, I will give it a go, fortunately i have a few scrap bits i will try some finishes on before i do the real thing.

Did you sand or brush off the rough sides at all or just left it as is?

[RufflyRustic]

Good on you for trying on scraps first.
Try wirebrushing the edge on a scrap then cleaning away the dust and then try your finish, you may or may not like the wirebrushed effect. Make sure you clean away all dust/debri/loose bits first. A tack cloth may be very helpful for this. They are less than $4 from hardware shops in the paint/sandpaper section.

Cheers
RufflyRustic

[dan_tom]

Hi dragonboy

I just sanded the rough edges of my slab furniture back to remove the dirt and what not and then finished it in the same way I did the rest of the piece! Whether it be oil and then wax or tung oil. The sapwood tends to soak up more of the finish, but this hasn't appeared to have affected the overall look or increased the fragility of the edges (so far)...

Cheers
Dan

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

Did you sand or brush off the rough sides at all or just left it as is?

Wirebrushed with a soft, brass-bristled brush along the grain, only enough to ensure all loose bits were removed. I dislike using steel brushes on timber and sandpapering wouldn't give the look I was after.

[Shannon]

I agree with giving the edges a bit of a going over with a brush etc to remove loose stuff and dirt first, am in the process of doing something similar with some WR cedar and it's amazing what can get caught up and possibly inhibit a nice finish.