Wood finishing wax ? What to use?
 

I'm refinishing an old maple table. I've sanded it down to bare wood
and applied a maple stain. But I don't know where to go from here.
Don't want to use an epoxy or anything like that. What did the people
use before epoxy [table is about 70 years old].?

What wax or ? should I use to restore its original finish? Would
appreciate an e-mail reply to

Thanks,

Trent D. Sanders

posted & mailed

Trent D. Sanders wrote:

I'm refinishing an old maple table. I've sanded it down to bare wood
and applied a maple stain. But I don't know where to go from here.

The stain probably wasn't necessary. Maple is already maple colored! :)

Don't want to use an epoxy or anything like that. What did the people
use before epoxy [table is about 70 years old].?

70 years ago, probably shellac or lacquer. Of the two, shellac is much
easier to work with IMHO. Lacquer should preferably be sprayed. Spray
cans are expensive and hard to control. Spray equipment is expensive.
There are brushing lacquers, but the stuff dries FAST, and it's difficult
(impossible) to avoid lap marks.

Shellac is pretty bullet proof. If you screw it up, sand it until it's
smooth and do it over again. Eventually you'll get it right. It produces
wonderful results, and it's my current finish of choice. It dissolves in
alcohol though, and it isn't terribly wear resistant. It's pretty easy to
screw it up. OTOH, it's easy to fix it if you do screw it up.

Beyond that, there are all kinds of other finishes. Waterlox, Poly, even,
yes, epoxy. Poly is the usual newbie woodworker choice. It was the first
finish I ever used. It gives everything a dipped in plastic look, and it's
almost impossible to avoid getting dust motes, hairs, and random particles
of whatever permanently entombed in plastic resin with the stuff, because
it takes six kinds of forever to dry. You can get good results with it,
but it's not "easier" than shellac IMHO.

What wax or ? should I use to restore its original finish? Would
appreciate an e-mail reply to

Johnson's Paste Wax is what I use. There are plenty of others. You want to
use a furniture wax, not an automotive wax. Stay away from anything with
silicone in it. Apply with 0000 steel wool (which you can buy at Wal-Mart,
among other places) and it will cut the gloss on whatever finish you
applied, and then let you buff the wax out to a nice, natural looking
luster.


--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
http://rosegarden.sourceforge.net/tutorial/

"Trent D. Sanders" wrote in message
om...
I'm refinishing an old maple table. I've sanded it down to bare wood
and applied a maple stain. But I don't know where to go from here.
Don't want to use an epoxy or anything like that. What did the people
use before epoxy [table is about 70 years old].?

What wax or ? should I use to restore its original finish? Would
appreciate an e-mail reply to

I use Watco wax. Works for me.
SH

Wax does not offer much protection, although I use it on most of my
projects after the finish has cured for a month or so. I use
Johnson's Paste wax. For your project, I suggest a clear finish such
as tung oil or Danish oil applied with a rag. This kind of finish is
best when several coats are applied, waiting increasing longer between
coats. Be aware of spontaneous combustion and be careful about proper
rag disposal. After the last coat, wait a couple months and then you
can apply wax and buff to a low sheen. Reapply the wax every year.

On 30 Oct 2004 15:26:16 -0700, (Trent D. Sanders)
wrote:

I'm refinishing an old maple table. I've sanded it down to bare wood
and applied a maple stain. But I don't know where to go from here.
Don't want to use an epoxy or anything like that. What did the people
use before epoxy [table is about 70 years old].?

What wax or ? should I use to restore its original finish? Would
appreciate an e-mail reply to

Thanks,

Trent D. Sanders

Phisherman writes:

Wax does not offer much protection, although I use it on most of my
projects after the finish has cured for a month or so. I use

Well... My mother has a maple kitchen table, wich is by now about 15
years old. It got a wax treatment (premixed beeswax with turpentine,
if i remember correctly) at the beginning and no refreshment
since. The *only* stains that could not be wiped off with the rinsing
sponge were left by the spores of a mushroom that lay on that table
for a few hours, now the is a nice pattern of it's lamellae visible,
even after a few years.
The table suffers daily use in the kitchen and is still in perfect
shape. So don't overdo the finishing and stay away from making a
plastic table with wooden core...

--
Dr. Juergen Hannappel http://lisa2.physik.uni-bonn.de/~hannappe
Phone: +49 228 73 2447 FAX ... 7869
Physikalisches Institut der Uni Bonn Nussallee 12, D-53115 Bonn, Germany
CERN: Phone: +412276 76461 Fax: ..77930 Bat. 892-R-A13 CH-1211 Geneve 23

On 30 Oct 2004 15:26:16 -0700, (Trent D. Sanders)
wrote:

What wax

There are two useful sorts of wax; one is hard, one is soft.

Hard wax is used for initial finishing on a piece.
The hard wax is a mixture of beeswax / paraffin wax, but also about
15% or carnauba or candelilla wax to harden it. I use Liberon's "Black
Bison". It has a lot of solvents mixed in with it, so that you can
apply it - once they've evaporated, it's hard work. I use a variety of
brushes to apply it, depending on size, from shoe-polish brushes to
doorstep scrubbing brushes (breech cleaning brushes from Chieftain
tanks are excellent, and I bought a large quantity as surplus). For
"aged" work, I use a nylon bristle rotary "wire" brush in an electric
drill.

Soft waxes are used for cleaning and polishing by your maid. They
avoid carnauba, because it's impossible to rub out. Good ones are pure
beeswax, and a little something to make it workable. Modern commercial
waxes can have all sorts of junk in them.


It's worth buying raw beeswax from a beekeeper. If you have to, try
making your own wax recipes with it - although most beekeepers who
sell wax also sell it ready-made into a polish, which saves some work.
I've posted wax recipes to here and rec.knives before, so Google for
them.
http://groups.google.com/groups?selm...ai%404 ax.com

--
Smert' spamionam

I found Deft brushing lacquer to be VERY forgiving about overlaps as
it does an amazing job of self levelling.This was observed on the
horizontal box top where a heavy application could be risked. With
its burnin attribute I wouldn't hesitate to rotate the box 90° and
slather some on a side, let dry and repeat. Rubs out well also.

On Sat, 30 Oct 2004 19:33:02 -0400, Silvan
wrote:

There are brushing lacquers, but the stuff dries FAST, and it's difficult
(impossible) to avoid lap marks.