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#1
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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 |
#2
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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/ |
#3
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"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 |
#4
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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 |
#5
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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 |
#7
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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. |
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