Old dining Room table - Finish & Wood type???

[Birc]

Hi all,

Some advice please:
i just purchased an old spanish style dining room table and i have no idea of the wood type or how to give it a better finish.

Any ideas to either question?

Thanks for the help. Appreciated.

[Wongo]

The wood looks like Oregon. I would use some wipe on poly as finish. It is a more durable finish and will save you a lot of headaches in the future.

[jerryc]

As Wongo says, the wood is most probably oregon. I might be stating the bleeding obvious but because of the raised grain, if you sand the finish it might cause problems by breaking through the original stain. A wash down to remove the accumulated grime and and then seal the finish that's already on the wood. For this I would use shellac. After that "Wongo" the surface.

Jerry


War does not decide who is right. It only decides who is left.

[Birc]

Thank you for your help.

Prob a silly question but what does shellac do? Any hints on applying? Sand between coats etc?

As far as i understand the shellac seals the surface with a layer of hard stuff and then the poly gives a nice finish. Is that correct?

Thanks again.

[jerryc]

Birc,

Purpose of the shellac is to act as a sealer over the old finish. Because the original finish is unknown it is best to use shellac because it does not react adversely with any finish. One or maybe two coats wiped on with be enough and as the shellac will be a very thin coat no sanding should be necessary.
Why I advised against sanding the finish and why I advise a wipe on finish is because the wood appears to have been wire brushed to raise the hard grain, faking age. If you sand the table there is a likelihood of breaking through the raised grain and stain and giving yourself more work.
Much depends on the quality of the present finish which is always hard to judge in a photo.

Jerry

War does not decide who is right. It only decides who is left.

[Wardy]

Agree with Wongo

[MacS]

Its best to know what coating is on the pieces before you start repairing or finishing.

There are basically two types of coatings. I will use this example only to make it easier to explain, and then to mention some of the common coatings that are sold.

One is evaporative the second is reactive, shellac and lacquer are evaportive coatings, which means they will be effected if either of there solvents which are alcohol or lacquer thinners are spilled on these coatings.

Reactive coatings, are not effected by there solvents, because there solvents do not penetrate into these coatings, some reactive coatings are Polyurethane, Varnish, Oil Finishes, etc.

To make this simple, a little lacquer thinner or acetone on a cloth can be wiped on the back of a leg on the table or chairs, if your wiping affects the coating, there is a good change its an evaportive coating. If it don't effect them then it is one of the reactive coatings.

Do a test, and then come back, and tell us your problems, and what you want to do.

Good Luck

Mac S

[Birc]

Thanks MacS,

I will give it a try tonight and let you know the results.

Birc

[Birc]

Gave it a wipe and some of the surface coat came off. I was surprised as i thought it would be evaportive, so i scraped a bit off the leg with a nail and sure enough, unfinished bare wood.

So can wipe on poly be used to improve the finish of a lacquer finish?

Cheers

Birc

[MacS]

Birc,

I would not go by "scraping off " the finish as a telltale sign what the coating is, as most coatings would scrape off.

I'll go by the wiping method.

Personally, I prefer sticking with the same coating because you would get coating compatibility.

If you want to go with a "wipe on poly" I would first do a test on the table apron, legs to see how it works, the solvent for poly is mineral spirits (White Spirits)
which should not effect the shellac, but do a test, allow to dry, then see what happens.

Don't forget to first dewax the pieces before you apply any coating.

Good Luck

Mac S

[seriph1]

It's either Douglas Fir (Oregon Pine) or Radiata, but from a naturally grown tree..... have seen both species used in these tables. because of the amount of grain collapse though, my bet is firmly on Douglas Fir. When you say old, I assume you mean more than 5 years.

[Birc]

I wiped it first and the cloth showed a brown stain. the surface of the wood was slightly dulled but not greatly effected...i did use turps as opposed to the acetone suggested.

If it is a lacquer finish then can i just give that a wax as opposed to shellac then wax? It is a pretty hard surface atm, just a bit dull...

have been reading up about shellac in previous threads. sounds like good stuff. might pic up the finishing book that everyone recommends.

White shellac over limewashed pine would be okay wouldnt it? Making some bedside tables and picture frame as well.

Not exactly sure of the age. Bought it on eBay from a nice old man who had it custome made well over 15 years ago.

Thanks for your input everyone. Great forum. Very helpful and inspirational.

Cheers
Birc

[ubeaut]

Welcome Birc - Top is almost certain to be radiata pine but possibly oregon. The timber isn't collapsed or wire brushed, it's burnt very quickly with extreme heat from an oxy acetylene torch then cleaned up with copious amounts of steel wool and/or a flap sander. Made dozens of suites like that back in the early 70's.

Most would be sprayed with nitrocellulose lacquer or finished with shellac, then waxed, the lacquer is probably the more likely as it looks to be a commercially produced table.

You will probably do best leaving the finish alone if it's still reasonably sound and applying a few coats of wax (Traditional) over a period of a few weeks. If it's really dirty you might like to use a (Reviver) first. These tables are best suited to being waxed as it enhances the old world Spanish style and look of the piece and will give a really lusterous glow to the timber rather than a hard cold plastic look.

Cheers - Neil

PS done right they can look absolutely fantastic. done wrong or poorly they look pretty ordinary. From what I see in the photo's it really only needs a bit of wax and a clean if necessary.