Thread: Box finish advice

No!

Originally Posted by China

No!

Well paint may be one if the surface is not too rough. Expanding on what China said, finish as in the see through type enhances the colours and figure of the wood but it also enhances any defects like dings,scratches and other marks.
A good wood surface is the start of finishing. A smooth mark free surface to about 400 grit would be starting point. Some sand down to very fine grits but 400 would do for pine. I would suggest some research/reading in finishing basics. google will bring up tons of stuff. If you have a particular look in mind then google that as someone will have shown how it's done.
Regards
John

Originally Posted by orraloon

Well paint may be one if the surface is not too rough. Expanding on what China said, finish as in the see through type enhances the colours and figure of the wood but it also enhances any defects like dings,scratches and other marks.
A good wood surface is the start of finishing. A smooth mark free surface to about 400 grit would be starting point. Some sand down to very fine grits but 400 would do for pine. I would suggest some research/reading in finishing basics. google will bring up tons of stuff. If you have a particular look in mind then google that as someone will have shown how it's done.
Regards
John

Hi John,

i really appreciate the response and i haddone some reading up on the topic before i posted. I was aware that finishes bring up marks and that is why I posted in this forum where I knew that there would be more practical advice.

I guess I was inquiring because we have a recycled Tasmanian oak bench from thors hammer in our house. It looks fantastic but as it is recycled, it had a lot of nail holes that they had sealed and not disguised. This got me thinking about the "rough look" that some woodworkers produce where they go the opposite of trying to cover everything up.

Hence I was asking about a mat finish (not a big fan of shine). To expand, I would like to keep it light. I'm aware that natural products like bees wax and some of the oils seem to give a great finish but aren't as durable.


regards,


Ian

A lime wash stain may be one way to do it if you like that kind of look. Otherwise experiment on some offcuts to see if there is anything you like.
https://www.google.com/search?q=lime...w=1093&bih=509

Regards
John

Outdoor furniture oil?

At Thor's, they use Osmo oil on litterally everything....

Mirotone have Nitro lacquer in 40% gloss it has a fair amount of solids(it is thick) in it so in may fill the grain or dings quite well, only problem is that it will need to be sprayed on.

Two things that might help. At least for your pine box.

1.use several coats of a good sealer first. There used to be a product called ‘pine sealer’ which I think came from Cabot’s. I don’t think it’s available anymore but has probably just been renamed.

The sealer will do two things. Firstly, cos pine is porous and differentially so, it will stop some part of the box absorbing more stain or varnish then other parts. That stops the blotchy look you get finishing pine.

Secondly, without a sealer all the rough bits that become obvious when you finish the box will be heightened because the fibres are damaged and will tend to absorb more stain or varnish. Sealing it first stops this to some degree. Pine is fairly soft so it damages fairly easily in a workshop - so there’s usually surface damage that is a magnet for stains etc.

2. Consider a varnish stain combination product. I know they are not everyone s favourite, but when combined with a good sealer they have a life saving ability to hide flaws. Nearly all the low to mid end commercial furniture you will see is done in a varnish stain, even a lot of the stuff that pretends to be a clear finish. It’s use in commercial environments is widespread, and it’s largely for this reason.

So if I had a gnarly piece of furniture that I wanted to make look rustic but respectable I would first fill the holes with a filler a couple of shades darker then the timber (because knots are always darker then the timber, and we have learnt to ignore them).give it several coats of sealer, rubbing th first couple right back. Finish with a varnish stain, which will sit on top rather then sink in and highlight the damaged bits/faults.

Cheers
Arron