Leg problems

[back yarder]

Hi all,
I am ahving trouble with my legs!
my table legs that is,
the 100 x 100redgum legs seems seasoned but each time I get them sanded, oiled and ready for polish they seem to go rough again.
I am sanding them all the way through to 1200 wet with oil on the timber
I am using the Scandanavian oil and steel wool at the end which gives a super smooth finish.
after a day or 2 the finish is still great
after a few more days the suface gets rough again and requires more work.
do I need to seal the wood or is it possibley still wet.
the legs have a lot of fine cracks in the surface which seem to open up after a while
any ideas?
thanks team.
(merry xmas)

[MacS]

I'm not familar with that product, is it a polish or a drying oil?

Do a test on another species of wood, if the same thing happens, its not a drying oil, and it is not sealing the wood.

You might want to use a dewaxed shellac to seal in the legs.

[echnidna]

sounds like the timber isn't fully seasoned or its wet

[astrid]

Yep,
what bob said.
you could try sealing with shellac first, and theres no need to sand so fine,
a 320 will do, wait a few days and sand again.
wait again and then oil.

happy christmas
astrid

[MacS]

Backyarder,

When I used the term "polish" I do not mean "french polish" I was referring to the polishes that are used to clean and to shine up the furniture, these are "non drying" polishes with non drying oils like parrifin or mineral oils.

I was referring to the "drying oils" like Tung Oil, Boiled Linseed Oil, Walnut Oil or some of the commercial drying oils like danish or watco, etc.

Check the "oil" that you used to see if it is a "drying oil" or a furniture polish.

[back yarder]

Wattyl scandanavian oil is a 2 part product, esatpol and natural teak oil.
Not sure if this make any sense
I have used it on the table top and it seems fine but on the legs it is great on some side of the leg but the side that have the little crack keep coming back rough.
what about a sanding sealer?
is the shellac used for this?
cheers

[MacS]

That really should work, but its not, so I'll tell you a better solution to seal the defective legs.

This repair method is called "glue sizing." You will need the commonly used white glue (PVA), 50% white glue and 50% clean water, mix the two parts together, and then brush out the entire leg, then do the same on the other legs, be sure you coat the entire legs. Wait at least 4 hours, and then repeat the process on all the legs, and then allow all the legs to dry.

Once the glue sizing has completely dried, you can use almost any "coating" on top of the sizing this would include the solvent coatings and the drying oils.

Just be sure that you do not leave any skips or holidays when your brushing out the sizing. This should seal in the defective woods, and allow you to build up a good finish.

To give yourself some confidence, you might want to make up a complete start to finish sample.

Good Luck

[back yarder]

thanks for the tips
i will give it a go and see how it turns out
cheers

[echnidna]

The problem with glue sizing is that if part of the surface is exposed to excess heat the size can shrink giving you an unwanted crackle finish.

If the timber isn't properly dry yet glue sizing won't help

[MacS]

There might be a possibilty that the wood is completely dried out, thats why its
cracking and splitting.

Glue sizing, has its place in sealing the woods, It has saved me many times for many reason.

[echnidna]

Redgum doesn't crack & split when its dried out.
While its drying it will.

[MacS]

How do you know what stage the wood is in, have you see it, or are you assuming.

I certainly don't know what stage its in. I also don't know if the glue sizing will work, I didn't know if it would work on some of other things I did, but it did work.

[back yarder]

Well it has sort of worked.
I have only just got the project underway again and have completed the glue sizing process.
It has been a week now and there is a little amount of roughness reappear.
Nowhere near as bad as last time.
If you are wondering why it has taken so long to finish off, I have built a front deck in between and other various jobs around the house front retaining walls, new turf.
I wonder if the time the timber has been sitting in the shed has let it dry out some more.
Time will tell.
The glue sizing left a silk smooth and solid feel to the legs.
I have said to the mrs that if it gets worse we will have to live with it for a while and refinish it again in the future.
Thanks for the advise guys

[ubeaut]

Stop using steel wool it might feel good to start with because it's burnifhing the timber dut all it's doing is laying down the grain of the wood and once a bit of moisture hits it from within or without it will raise up.

I have seen redgum that's been dried for 100 years or more and with deep probes on a moisture meter it still registers well over 20% moisture. 4 x 4 redgum is basically fence post material. Take it off the table, stick it in the ground, nail some pailings onto it an you'll have a fine fence.

If you must persist get some Organoil and use that. One of the few finishes designed specifically for use with redgum. Check out their web site or ring them up for more info if you need it. Organoil and redgum are made for each other.

Oh yeah.... and don't take advice from yanks about finishing Aussie hardwoods they basically have no idea, as there's nothing to compare to our unique timbers almost anywhere else in the world... Sorry Mac.

Cheers - Neil

[MacS]

Hi Neil,

Your right, I know nothing at all about aussie timber, but my advice about glue sizing has worked.

Glue sizing has its place in finishing, it also works quite well preventing or reducing blotching.

G' Day,

Mac S