Thread: What sort of Finish? With Photos

It isn't that the surface won't take shellac, just that, unless you can strip all the oil out, over time the shellac will go milky and not give a clear finish. However, a good wax finish - NOT beeswax - will give a good finish too.

I'm not much use at this stage in the discussion, but I'll just add that, to me, that doesn't look like shellac.

Good luck,
Luke

Lacquer?

Xanth, thank you very much. Do you have a particular non-beeswax you may suggest?
Much appreciated

Yvan

Hi Yvan,

My favourite wax at the moment is UBeaut's Traditional Wax. A coloured wax is better for darker timbers. It has a high Carnauba wax content and some other hard waxes too. You can buy it on-line from CWS 'Carrols' in the Melbourne area) and possibly from Carba-Tec is there if one in Hobart (there wasn't one when I lived there 18 years ago). Otherwise I find Liberon Black Bison brand Mahogany coloured wax to be good and that is often available from antique shops.

I do not how how far you have gone in stripping (if at all) but now that I can see the photos it looks like surface discolouration to me. If you have not started to do anything you could try UBeaut's EEE polish to rub the muck off or Liberon's Burnishing Cream to see if they fix the finish without too much hard work.

David