Tassie Oak Finish

[GRS]

Hi All,

Have a project on the go out of Tassie Oak and was wondering what type of finish to use ( never worked with Tas Oak before)
Have been told a danish oil followed by wax would be OK.

Any thoughts?

[Shane Watson]

Tas oak i find is a good timber to finish with. It will take all finish's that I have applied & thats been a great many variations over the years.

It can at times need grainfilling but I rarely did this myself unless requested by a client. I prefer using the finish itself to fill any grain.

What you use is up to you. What will the finished piece be used for? What are your skills & limitations? etc etc.

If your after a quick easy finish I would take the Danish oil out of your suggestion and replace with shellac. Being carefull not to put to many coats of shellac on though as Tas oak is a light timber & the shellac will darken it, but many people like this, so again thats your choice.
Then once your happy its been sealed with Shellac, one coat can be considered enough at times, then apply a good couple of applications of a good quality finishing wax. Neils is well worth a look!

HTH

CHeers!

Shane

[Sir Chiz]

Here's a piece of curly Tas Oak I turned and finished with a coat of boiled linseed oil and an oil base varnish.
Beautiful wood.

Chiz.

[GRS]

Thanks for your input Shane, I opted to have a go at the shellac and am very happy with the result. A first all round as I have never used shellac before either. I have yet to apply the wax to finish but thought you might like to see the job so far.

Regards Gary

[rodm]

Hi Gary,
There must be a lot of seeders with hoppers missing in the wheatbelt area.
Superb job and I love the stencil. How did you do that?

[GRS]

Rodm,

I designed the motif on the front on paper then using carbon paper transfered it to the timber, found the shearer logo on the internet and added it to the design. That was the easy part, I then routed the whole thing and finished off the finer details with a engraving tool, one with a flexi drive and lots of attachments. It took longer to do than to finish the rest of the job.Because of the light colour of the oak I then painted the design in black and filled in all the routed areas and ran over the lot with the belt sander which highlights the effect and leaves it looking sharp.
As for the end pieces it's funny you should say that a lot would be missing because as I used to be a farmer I have made some enquiries in the wheatbelt in the attempt of getting hold of some more and my friends all tell me that over the last 10 years or so people have been going round getting the ends and selling them to bric a brac shops and antique dealers, they sell for around $120 a pair for garden ornaments etc

Gary

[rodm]

Gary,
It is the routered detail that makes the job special. The theme links the original purpose to your recycled product. Thanks for the explaination and keep up the good work.
It is a shame the ends are being used for garden decoration when they can be recycled into a piece of furniture.