Thread: polish for redgum table

If the table is finished in a polyurethane varnish, (which would be the most likely guess) there's no real polish solution. It's essentially a plastic coating and once it reaches its daggy looking stage, the only way to make it look nice again is sand it to bare wood and refinish.

You can always hope it wasn't plasticised, can't you?
John, Splinter's right. You need to find out what the finish was. If it is plastic, you can get a much more user friendly finish with oil. If you have to strip it back anyway.

Regards,

Rob

Originally Posted by LGS

You can always hope it wasn't plasticised, can't you?
John, Splinter's right. You need to find out what the finish was. If it is plastic, you can get a much more user friendly finish with oil. If you have to strip it back anyway.

Regards,

Rob

Hi Rob, what oil finish have you had a win with? I am about to make a table from some slabed of RRG several years ago. I have made several smaller tables and used Tung oilwhich is real nice. Not sure how that would stand up to general wear and tear though.....

Hi Kiwi,

There are two oils that I would recommend for finishing a Dining Table and they are Organoil "Hard Burnishing Oil"(HBO) and Wattyl Natural Teak (Scandinavian) Oil. If you want the finish to be food safe (after it has cured, which takes about 3 days) then I would use the Hard Burnishing Oil. The trick to it is the burnishing, which you do with a Random Orbital Sander (ROS).
Have a look through this thread. It will tell you just about everything you need to know about HBO and its application and properties. The process is really quite simple and gives a beautiful finish. Here's some Red Gum that has been done with HBO.

Originally Posted by LGS

Hi Kiwi,

There are two oils that I would recommend for finishing a Dining Table and they are Organoil "Hard Burnishing Oil"(HBO) and Wattyl Natural Teak (Scandinavian) Oil. If you want the finish to be food safe (after it has cured, which takes about 3 days) then I would use the Hard Burnishing Oil. The trick to it is the burnishing, which you do with a Random Orbital Sander (ROS).
Have a look through this thread. It will tell you just about everything you need to know about HBO and its application and properties. The process is really quite simple and gives a beautiful finish. Here's some Red Gum that has been done with HBO.

Great threads rob. I have still have couple litres pure tung oil I got from mail order x Sydney, If i understand correctly, if I burnish as per threads will get same results a hbo..?
With the red gum, I thin 50/50 first coat to assist soak, then 2 - 3 coats straight. Still do the 50/50 first or does the heat from burnishing assist?
I gota tell ya, I can't wait to have a crack. I have several burl slabs I've been eyeing up for some tables for the kids, I really love the tung oil but just haven't been getting the desired finish I was after. I need to get on line and order pads, 400 is the finest I can get out here.

Thanks for the great info.
Brian

Hi Brian,

If you are sure that you have Pure Tung Oil, then you can just follow the method given without diluting the Oil. However it is possible to get the same result using Tung Oil diluted 1:2 White Spirit. For your first attempt at the finish, I'd suggest that you dilute the Tung Oil down.
You should be able to get what you need as far as pads go from The Sandpaper Man, who is a sponsor of this forum. The microfibre pads (2000 and 4000g) are about $4.00 each, but can be rinsed out and reused. They really are worth the effort.
Looking forward to seeing the end result.

Regards,

Rob