Dear all.
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I have a friend who wants to revive some oak furniture that’s looking a little faded and dry.
I believe it has been previously oiled. He actually asked for something akin to moisturising cream.
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Does any one have any tips on cleaners or revivers and the best way to go about it?
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Thanks
Glynn
Most used woodworking terminology: Ooops.
Most useful tool: Wood burning stove.
Replies
Glyn
I have an English oak table, inherited from the parents-in-law, which had been allowed to dry out and get rather bleached in a sunlit room. There were also one or two water marks.
They had no idea what the table had been finished with; I assumed oil and wax as there was no evidence of any coat-finish such as varnish. I used Lib Net (made by Liberon) to take off the old wax and dirt. If there was once oil in the table I found no evidence of it. If I had, I would then have used Liberon's asociated oil-removal product. Both of these removers leave essentially bare, clean wood. They are a rub on-and-off product so are easy to use.
As oak is open-grained, you need to use something like wire wool to get the grurk out of the grain. Wire wool and the tanin of oak are not a happy mix, though, so I used one of those sanding pads that are an open-weave cloth with the grit attached to the fibres. This got the tabletop very clean.
Any water marks can be removed with yet another Liberon product called ring remover.
As the oak was rather bleached by the UV it had been subject to, I used a spirit dye (a Rustin's product) named "light oak". The Rustins version seems the nearest to the actual brown that English oak goes naturally with time (and not so much UV). If your piece is American white or red oak, you'll need to find a matching shade.
Water based dye would also work but it raises the grain, especially with open grain timber like oak. Spirit dyes are just easier to use with such timber. In fact, it is possible to mix spirit dyes with something like Danish Oil, so the refinishing is then even quicker. I prefer to do the job in two stages myself as I'm wary of running out of the mix before the job is done - it's difficult to do a second mix and get exactly the same shade.
I like oil and wax finshes not just for their look but because they are so easy to reppair or renew, as described above.
Lataxe
Lataxe<!----><!----><!---->
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Thanks for the info.
I’ve just been to Liberons’ web site and I can’t find reference to the “Lib Net” you refer to (it’s not in there product range) it that a burnishing cream?
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Do you think this is something someone with no previous experience should attempt?
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Cheers
Glynn
Most used woodworking terminology: Ooops.
Most useful tool: Wood burning stove.
Glynn,
Apologies for the confusion. I see that Liberon have renamed their Lib Net as "Wax & Polish Remover" - a more informative title I suppose (wonder what the "net" was)?
I still have a tin that says Lib Net - shows how much cleaning I do. :-)
The whole range of Liberon rub-on, rub-off products is very easy to use; and effective. The general rule for all of them is: splash it on (brush or cloth); leave it for 5 - 10 minutes; wipe it off until its gone (cleaner) or left an unsticky film finish (oil and/or wax). Repeat until the desired effect (very clean / glowing patina) is achieved.
Burnishng cream is a very fine abrasive in suspension, meant for polishing metals and paints. It can be used on oil (and I think varnish) finishes to get a flatter sheen, if that is wanted. I did use it on some walnut pieces I'd oiled and it does give a very even glow, as opposed to the more shiney finish that unburnished Finishing or Danish oil tends to build after the 3rd or 4th coat.
Lataxe
Thanks for that I'll pass that on.
Glynn.
Most used woodworking terminology: Ooops.
Most useful tool: Wood burning stove.
Lataxe
Just a couple of quick questions more.
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I see you hale from the <!----><!----><!---->U.K.<!----><!---->
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Where do you get your timber from and do you have any WW clubs around your way?
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Glynn.<!----><!---->
Most used woodworking terminology: Ooops.
Most useful tool: Wood burning stove.
Glynn,
There are no woodworking clubs around here (NW England) that I know of. To be frank, I'm not a club-joiner really. I spent a lot of years in a cycle racing club but that was almost without organisation, except during the races. It's the petty bureaucracy and clique-forming, which can dominate in British clubs of every kind, that I avoid.
I like this 'ere Knots club. :-)
The great majority of my timber is free, given to me by various wood fairies that I cultivate. These fairies are typically great ugly working blokes, who are more like goblins than fairies. Nevertheless, their jobs in docks, building sites, factories and so forth allows them to snatch various lovely timbers that are otherwise heading for skip or bonfire. You wouldn't believe what people throw away! I have a woodstore packed to the gunnels with all kinds of hardwoods, including one or two exotics not now readily available on the open market.
The fairies typically get a piece of furniture in return for the timber they salvage. A general rule is that one third of the timber they give me is returned as a cabinet, chair or whatever.
If I get desperate for a particular timber I can't obtain from a wood fairy, I go to John Boddies in Borough Bridge, Yorkshire. They sell commercially in huge amounts but also have small store where various planks can be bought one at a time. The store used to be much more extensive than it is now; in the past I've had yew, African blackwood, camphor, ziricote, bocote, purpleheart and so forth and so on. Mind, they are not cheap, so it's a last resort for me.
Lataxe
Lataxe.
Well I can only say you’re a lucky man.
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Down this neck of the woods timber comes in Pine, Pine or Pine and sheet material comes with large voids and woodworm holes.
I did find some wood being burnt and procured it. I was advised it was Redwood but strangely enough a lot of it looks a lot like Pine but with nails lots and lots of nails and felt and cement.
Hay its good enough to practise with.
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As for the club thing I hunted around several months ago but found nothing which I thought was a bit strange.
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Thought I’d just ask.
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Cheers
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Glynn.
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Most used woodworking terminology: Ooops.
Most useful tool: Wood burning stove.
Glynn,
I see you live on the south coast; but are you anywhere near a town with Victorian stuff in it? Victorian buildings are the A Number One source for large pieces of reclaimed hardwood, often of them exotic types such as rosewood, mahogany and teak.
When such buildinggs are renovated, especially the commercial or instititional ones such as schools, hospitals, banks and similar, there seems to be a plethora of such timber. The Victorians liked to show off and also used heavy-duty architectural features to impress customers and such. Old pubs are another good source, assuming they are not being stripped to supply a demand for their innards by one o' them dyam yankees! :-)
Then there are universities, especially those bits that are updated frequently such as labs.
Find builder-friends. You must buy them beer, agree wholeheartedly with their prejudices (often driven by over-much reading of The Daily Frightener, The Hate Mail and The Dung) and promise them a lovely table. Never let them know how much rosewood is really worth.
Then there is skip-hunting...........
Lataxe, coulda been a beachcomber.
Mr. Froe,
Does thee skulk about the moors and piers late at night looking for scraps of timber?
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Mr Acreage,
I never skulks but goes brazenly forth to inflict myself upon the world, whether the world likes it or not (and many creatures don't, especially when I waves my pig's blader on a stick and laughs at their pomp).
Pier wood can be good - if it lacks creosote. I once got a lump of greenheart from a pier but it was too hard and ornery to do much with.
On the moors there are only blasted and stunted tree. They are twisted, bent and look real mean. They are good only for frightening small children who have not responded to the cupboard under the stairs northe harsh words concerning their demeanour. (If we do not scold them they may become brazen like me)!
Cultivate your wood fairies! You know it makes sense. They brings the wood to you and are even anxious for you to have it as they then feel "green". Skip-diving is also allowed, as long as one does not redistribute the whole content upon the Queen's Highway, in a herculean effort to get to the panel of walnut-veneered birchply laying on the skip-bottom.
I go to the moors for solace and to reinflate my pig-bladder, whilst the pier is either for dancing on or surfing under.
Lataxe, a bluddy little nuisance
Lataxe,
"I go to the moors for solace "
Well then, we shall begin calling you Heathcliff then, shall we?
No, Gabriel Oak seems more apropos
Ray, who longs to be far from the madding crowd hisself, betimes
Ray,
In the high Howgill hills, just a few miles to the north of here, there is peace. The hills are ancient stacks of earth-covered rock rounded by time, of many square miles and moorish bleak. In the higher reaches there are skylarks, lapwings and the sighing air. The hills have no walls, fences or opinions and one may brood alone with oneself whilst wandering free.
This is where I go to forget the burly pack and the silly din; to be quiet and at ease. Only clouds and birdsong, grass and air.
Lataxe, proto-ghost of Planet Earth.
Lataxe,
Sounds good. How did your compatriot Wordsworth put it? "I wandered lonely as a cloud," or something.
Ray
Seriously depends on the oak furniture. If it was made in the 20th century, some low-abrasive pads and a bit of furniture-grade wax will do the trick.
If it's antique oak furniture made when that was fashionable - i.e., Jacobean, don't touch it! While I personally think it's foolish, collectors/dealers want "original surface" and that includes the grime deposited over the centuries.
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