suggestions for oregon beams

[oakes]

hello
we have cleaned and sanded back (with course paper) some raw weathered oregon interior beams and they now have a nice honey/orange appearance. I would like suggestions on what people would use to preserve and maintain this appearance. We are not sure whether to use tung oil or a tung oil mix or lacquer it. Long term maintenance is importance too. Any ideas appreciated.
Glenn

[bitingmidge]

I sprayed a "clear stain" many years ago to good effect, whatever that was!! (Probably turps with a bit of Poly in it??)

Really for an interior beam you are only trying to fill the pores a bit so you can dust 'em once before you sell the place in ten years time.

Try something waterbased, flat and very clear like a "Colourless non yellowing acrylic polymer" maybe something like Intergrain Ultraclear, but you don't have to use multiple coats because you are basically only trying to seal the timber rather than give it a final finish.

My bet would be that an oil will need to be done again eventually?

Cheers,

P(the above is not advice, just a random thought!)

[Wolfs]

A couple of coats of shellac sanded back to 240 grit for the first coat and then 0000 steel wool for the second one, followed by wax polish produces a lovely honey colour. The extent to which you finish with the 0000 steel wool will determin the level of gloss. If you take the shine off the shellac the wax leaves a great luster. Try it on some scrap and see what you think.

[jur]

We have these oregon beams in our house painted mission brown unfortunately when we bought, we painted them white because stripping them back is too much work. Despite their very coarse texture, dust is not the slightest problem and we live in a dusty place. So dust won't be a problem for you.

My thoughts would be to oil them with raw tung oil, this would deepen the colour a bit by itself, but would stay matt and preserve the current look. I would also use Organoil's product, you will have a lovely orange smell for a while and then the tung aroma would linger for a long time afterwards. They have a few suitable products for this eg 'Interior clear finishing oil.' (Caveat: If you hate the smell of tung oil, don't do it.) You would probably not need to oil them again ever. Another advantage is, oiling is so quick and easy, easier than waterbased paints, so if after a long while you got the urge to do them again, hey one two three.

Final remark: The oregon will darken with age to a deep orange almost regardless of what you used.

[oakes]

Thanks for the suggestions. After some experimentation we have decided to use organoil. It is easy to apply and has brought out the colour nicely.
cheers
Glenn

[Cohuna]

Oakes,
I had fine tooth saw ct oregan beams in my old place and I gave them a couple of coats of full gloss poly and they came up a treat. They will darken in colour over time as previously stated but I coated my beams so I wouldn't get any splinters or fine wood particles/dust on the carpet blow and at that time I didn't know how it would look but I was pleasantly suprised. My only sugestion is to coat some scrap oregan with a few different finishes and see how you like it. Good luck my friend and happy new year to you anf your family.
cohuna