discoloured pine

[gnu52]

Hello all, I need advice on a problem with an old pine table I am refinishing. Bought it disassembled, painted white & partly cleaned, so I returned the legs in the lathe to remove the paint & then sanded until I got to one colour.
Then I applied a coat of tung oil which has left a piebald finish ranging from the hoped for butter yellow to almost black. It appears there is either residual finish deep in the grain or some other contamination. Is it possible moisture has come up the legs from prolonged wetness in the past?
I sanded a test piece down another 2 mm but got the same result.
What to do now?
Either live with it & finish oiling or should I try a stain to get a uniform colour? I have some mahogany stain on hand I am tempted to try.
BTW the piece was so soft & dry the first coat of oil soaked in as fast as I could apply it & was difficult to turn without damaging the narrow ring turning. Appreciate any help, thanks, Bill

[astrid]

could you post pictures
astrid

[MacS]

Is it 100% Tung Oil or is it a Tung Oil finish there is a big difference? Read the label!

I sugesst that you also "test" this oil on another piece of wood to make sure its the wood..

[artme]

Pine can be a bugger to finish at times.
Maybe your answer lies in the wood being soft and dry as you state. This will cause anything you park on top of it to soak in. Uneven soaking causes blotchiness.
Don't forget also that with some pines, Radiata, Slash etc, that they have distinctively hard and soft parts to their growth rings that wil cause the finish to soak in unevenly.
Best of luck.

[astrid]

been thinking about this,
did you wet the top with meths or turps after sanding to see what colour it would be?
or put the oil straght on.
dosent matter what you put on it it shouldnt be blochy unless its in the timber.
some of our timbers have naturally grey patches,
if its in the natural grain their nothing you can do exept try to even the colour up with diluted stain.

you said the timber sucked the oil up fast, this implyies the timber was really dry in some parts.the table mayhave been exposed to the weather before its owner painted it.

if the oil has penetrated deep its not going to come off again.
If its not the natural timber it may be that there were oil spills on the table
that have prevented the tung oil to penetrate evenly.

I think your only option is to take off as much of the tung oil as you can.
colour up some of your oil to a shade halfway between the darkest and lightest shades on the table.
with a small wad of cotton fabric carefully rub the oil with the grain on the lighter patches to blend the patches together.
test/practice on an unobtrusive spot like the edge.
I did this on a cedar table that has faded in paches and it helped a lot.

you wont get a totaly even finish but you can "help" the bloches to look more pleasing.
if you try to stain the whole table youll just get a darker blotchy table.
unless you use thick coat of oilbase stain, in wich case you may as well paint the table again.

Cheers
Astrid

[gnu52]

Thanks for your replies,food for thought.
The oil is tung oil not china oil or whatever.
Checking it this morning the blotches have faded but remain very noticable. I have taken a photo & will post it when wife has down loaded her happy snaps.
The pine has completely sucked the oil in, I doubt I can remove any without extreme sanding & there is no room left to move.
Will the stain still take successfully if I decide to try it?
Thanks again, Bill

[MacS]

Because of the nature of pine and other woods that blotch, you first must treat the wood, you want to use only reactive coatings until the wood is sealed, in some cases pigmented stains work, coloured glazes can be applied by brushing out the glaze, coloured washes can be applied to bring up the colours.

I strongly sugesst to always make up samples before you attempt finishing any furniture.

1- A sample will tell you if the colour is what you want, and will help you learn the finishing process.
2- It will allow you to know if all the new materials are compatible with each other.
3- It gives you other changes to make it right, if you not satisfied with the sample.

Its better to make up samples beforehand, then it is after you have screwed up the work. Think about it before you start your work.

[tea lady]

Could the black be mould if water has crect up the legs at some time in the past? I've got some ply that has black splotches after getting wet. A bit like black heart grain or what ever they call it?

[astrid]

Will the above stains and pigments work if the timber is saturated in oil?
Ive always assumed only oil based would work.
Astrid

[MacS]

Bill,

I'll wait to see your photos.

I suggest you wash the wood with Acetone, two coats of a reactive coating, allow to dry, and then use it as a sample for the staining.

[gnu52]

Hello all. photo as promised. Hope it helps. Thanks, Bill

[Harry72]

Id say thats why it was painted!

Probably need to use some oil based stain up top to match the bottoms close as possible then stain the whole lot, or you could try some bleach?

[gnu52]

Just another thought, someone examined it and said it has probably been used as meat safe table, stood in tins of kero, or water, to keep ants off. This apparently was commonly done in times gone by.
A test strip as suggested didnt work here because I tested the inside of the rail, an area unaffected by whatever it was stood in. Before oiling the sanded material was a fairly consistant colour. Thanks, Bill

[MacS]

I agree with Harry, if the bleach does not lighten up the black, then it would have to be colour toned and then glazed, which basically is a light painting.

Chances are it might have been done already to the leg, you just washed and sanded it off.

[astrid]

leave it as it is my advice,
It probably is patina from standing in water.
As you are probably not going to be able to get this looking sqeaky clean new.
leave it looking like an antique.
which is maybe what it is.and maybe a valuable one( if we could see some more pictures)
this sort of darkening is a hallmark of old furniture and comes up really well with a bit of a wax.
whats the top like?
If you put paint like finishes on to cover it up you may reduce its value.
If you dont personaly like the look, fix it, sell it and buy a new table.
photos?