timber benchtop finish

[tengals]

we have a old yellowish coating on our timber benchtop, whic once i sanded it back exposed a fantastic raw light dark pinkish timber colour,

it inspired me to restain the whole lot,

so im going to sand it all back to raw timber,

we are after a stain/oil for it\

what brands/types are suitable for kitchen benchtops?

looking for a dark stain than light...

certianly a dark stain in a oil, over a poly/gloss stain

please help.....

thanks in advance

[Woodin]

Hi Tengals

My recommendation would be using some tung nut oil.

Hard burnishing oil (tung nut extract) by Organoil (local company) can be bought at Carbatec. Organoil® Hard Burnishing Oil : CARBA-TEC

This product is food safe, you can use it on wooden fruit bowl, utensil, coffee tables, table top and kitchen bench top. Apparently, you can drink it straight as it is 100% organic.

1. Sand your top down to ~300 grit and wipe oil sparingly, leave it for about 45min.

2, Then continue sanding with a higher grit sand paper, stepping up slowly with 500, then 600, 800, 1000, 1500, 2000 and if you want a mirror like finish go to up to 4000. With 2000 you should be able to see your reflection. The heat from sanding/polishing will help the oil absorb into the wood further.

Hope this helps.

Woodin

[gavinabrown]

Hi Woodin,
The burnishing oil sounds good. What if I want to get a non-glossy finish? How high should I go with the sandpaper?

gavin.

[Horsecroft88]

X2 my vote for this, as I too used it on one of my antique pine bench tops in my kitchen when I was rennovating it. It came up really nicely, and simply brought out the real colour in the wood (neither too light or dark).

Thanks for reminding me of the details Woodin as I had forgotten specifically what the name of the product I had used. I just waxed it afterwards with bees wax and occasionally re wax to keep the lustre (note not gloss).

Gavin don't worry, from my experience using this product it doesn't come up too glossy, especially if you stop sanding at or below 600 grade. If you wished for added protection you could also add a coat or two of tung oil to further seal the timber top, but it is not hugely necessary.