Thread: Cheap Grandfather Clock, Darken Wood & Wooden Veneer

A number of people have recommended or linked to an antique furniture restorer called Thomas Johnson. I’ve started watching his videos and I really like them. Good explanations , shows various repair techniques and what I love is his colour matching.
Well worth spending the time IMO

That's right . There is lots of stuff to do with polishing and staining where you can learn on Youtube . And trying to describe it all here is a long job .

Basically your going to have to get a brown colour that's not so red .
What we who do it for a living have to do is look and test as many colours as it takes to get close but lighter . Seal that in then colour up from there with different colours mixed into the shellac . Do that thin and low then seal that in and body up . Then when its full work on the shiny part .

A good match rarely comes out of a can in one hit and is dead on . With a bit of testing you may get it though . You'd have to go buying more tins . Id buy a brown version of that stuff . You could use a few drops of the Mahogany to warm it up if it was needed . I don't thing it would be though . When I'm doing this for a match Ive got 20 options . How I start differs with each job if its different timbers each job .

I have seen other stains on the shelf at the hardware , possibly Cabots , where they have more Oxide or Pigment colours mixed in. Its more opaque . Needed when going darker . It looks like that's more whats needed for a start ?

If you can get the stains right and the colour worked out your next step is to seal it in . This can be tricky with just shellac and some stains like that . The metho in the shellac pulls them off while you sealing . If its a built up colour youve either go to go thin and fast with a few coats . Because if it starts pulling colour out it can get very patchy . A better soloution is to seal in with an oil based sanding sealer . The colours wont move around and the thinned sanding sealer builds up the body quickly . With a coat or two of that and good cutting back you go back to shellac . French polish from there .

To get really accurate colours like I said before . Thin coloured shellac can adjust the colour in low down in the job . Ive spoken about these colours before on another thread and they have multiple uses . The use of these is a bit complex when it comes to colouring up a job using them . Its a french polishers method of either adding with a brush the right way . The right sort of brush too . Or a rubber on flat wide things can be used . And you'd have to go buying in the raw colours .

Thanks for your detailed replies.

i noticed Thomas uses a spray “lacquer” ( his words but he doesn’t elaborate) to seal the stains when the colour was close, then used aerosol toners to blend in, colour pens in small areas etc to get the colours spot on. I did ask him what lacquer he used but haven’t got an answer yet. You answered my query - thanks

I'm going through the Thomas Johnson video's, really helpful information. Do you guys think I should stick with Feast Watson which is a spirit based dye stain or get another brand that's recommended?. I don't want to use any water based stains.

I need to get on with the staining soon so should I be filling the small dents and holes first or after staining?. I'll be using Timbermate.

First is a good idea .

Is there a name for this type of effect on wood where its dark on the edges and tapers off lighter, like a worn in look, example:


78314855_302112_o.jpg

How is this achieved?.

Its a type of shading done usually with a spray gun . It can be applied lots of ways .

On guitars its called a sunburst paint or colour job .

YouTube

Originally Posted by Lappa

correction: just checked - Coles metho is guaranteed 95% not 98% as I stated.

Hey Lappa, Do you mean guaranteed 95% Metho?, will this be ok to use as a thinner with Feast Watson Prooftint:

https://www.chs.com.au/Product/Methy...-Maxi-1Lt.aspx

Metho (ethanol) absorbs water so commonly available metho from supermarkets and hardware shops is rarely 100% ethanol pure. You can buy 100% metho from chemical suppliers but I have found no problems with the Coles 95% for both mixing with shellac flakes or thinning Prooftint.
i do buy a new bottle when making a fresh batch of shellac and leave the rest for cleaning up badly damaged shellac finishes on old furniture, mixing with Prooftint and cleaning up.

i couldn’t see a percentage on the product you linked to.

Originally Posted by Lappa

Metho (ethanol) absorbs water so commonly available metho from supermarkets and hardware shops is rarely 100% ethanol pure. You can buy 100% metho from chemical suppliers but I have found no problems with the Coles 95% for both mixing with shellac flakes or thinning Prooftint.
i do buy a new bottle when making a fresh batch of shellac and leave the rest for cleaning up badly damaged shellac finishes on old furniture, mixing with Prooftint and cleaning up.

i couldn’t see a percentage on the product you linked to.

I found this but not quite sure what to look for, it says ethanol 64-17-5 %70-100

http://www.gsbchemicals.com.au/msds/...irits_2014.pdf

According the MSDS the ethanol content can range from 70% to 100%; with the rest made up of water and the denaturant (gives it the evil taste to hopefully stop you from drinking it - which is less than 1%).

So I would guess that each batch would be actually labelled to reflect a true ethanol content for that batch which could range from 70% to 100% depending on what the customer required?

Just seems weird that the water can be as high as 35% but the lowest ethanol content is 70% which together is greater than 100% but hey, I’m not a chemist. Maybe someone has an answer?

Originally Posted by Lappa

According the MSDS the ethanol content can range from 70% to 100%; with the rest made up of water and the denaturant (gives it the evil taste to hopefully stop you from drinking it - which is less than 1%).

So I would guess that each batch would be actually labelled to reflect a true ethanol content for that batch which could range from 70% to 100% depending on what the customer required?

Just seems weird that the water can be as high as 35% but the lowest ethanol content is 70% which together is greater than 100% but hey, I’m not a chemist. Maybe someone has an answer?

Coles here I come then!. Thanks for all your advice Lappa. Especially the link to Tom Johnson vids, I've subscribed to his channel now as I think hes brilliant. Just a quck question, do I need to seal in every coat of stain with shellac?, assuming I should be staining in layers building up to the final colour.

Generally, dye stains are used to penetrate the wood therefore you wouldn’t seal between coats. Dye stain and shellac have the same carrier eg. Metho, so you can rub off stain when applying shellac which can be counter intuitive. However, dye stains can be added to shellac or applied after a sealing coat to finesse in the colour. I noticed Tom uses a lacquer spray over dye stains to seal the colour in.
Auscab is far, far more experienced than me in the restore department so hopefully he will chime in - his advice would be spot on.
I’ve only recently started the journey and he has been a great help