Repairing an old iron bark table top

[Eastie]

I’ve recently taken on the job of resurrecting a 70 year old table that has a 50 mm thick solid iron bark top originally finished in shellac.
The problem is that when it was made there were a few cracks and a few insect bore holes.
From a bit of investigation I found that a can of furniture polish containing silicone, ¾ empty. I’ve also found a small bottle of similar.

I’ve come down to two options to start with:

Option 1
Due to the likelihood of silicone impregnating the underlying timber via the cracks and holes I’ve decided it may not be wise to fully strip a finish that seems to be holding up. Instead I have planned to sand back the top in an attempt to remove surface contamination, then fill the larger cracks with epoxy and the smaller borer holes with beeswax. Complete it with a new cross catalysed shellac finish. Hopefully the silicone hasn;t gone through layers of shellac ???

Option 2
Fill in all the cracks and holes with beeswax and then go over the top with polish reviver.

Any opinions?

[This message has been edited by Eastie (edited 26 November 2002).]

[Robert WA]

Iron bark. You will need a D9 to take the surface of that back.

[soundman]

Mate if the holes & cracks don't ofend you don't feel compelled to fill them.

I'd say a stiff scrubb with some wax is a safe bet unless you are realy itching for a fight.

See my comments under T the TT silicon chalenge post.

If you have silicon contamination in cracked material you beter be real dedicated if you want to try & beat it.

cheers