Wood Finishing Help

[Arun Srinivasan]

I am restoring old teak furniture and I also need to finish some newly made furniture made with reclaimed teak.What would you recommend for finish? I have Watco Danish Oil and was wondering if I should get Watco Polyurethane in gloss and apply it after applying Danish Oil?

I have pictures of my freshly made furniture here http://imgur.com/a/exGEq

As you can see the color is quite light and I would like to stain them to look something like this here with some gloss and sheen http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/att...teak-table.jpg

I live in India so options might be a little limited but I can get any of Rustoleum (Watco, Varathane) Stains, PU and Oils here. I can also get shellac and boiled linseed oil fairly easily.

Thank you for all your help appreciate it

[Art Mann]

I'm sorry I have no advice but I want to encourage you anyway. I can tell from the photos of the unfinished piece that it has the potential to look spectacular. That wood is beautiful.

[John TenEyck]

Hi Arun, I've never worked with teak, but I would think dying it to match the table would be much better than trying to stain it. Dyes will give you pure, transparent color, and let the beauty of the teak grain show through. Stain tends to mask the grain. If you can get Transtint or Trans Fast dyes I think you'd be happy with the results it will give you. The problem is that you might need to buy two or three and custom mix them to get the exact color you want, and the only way to get that color is by trial and error on scrap wood. Alternatively, shellac might get you close to that color, depending upon which ones you can buy. For a topcoat, you might want to consider a wiping varnish in trying to match the look of the table. You can make your own wiping varnish by taking your favorite varnish, poly included, and thinning it about 50% with mineral spirits, naptha, or similar. The table looks like it might be a satin or semi-gloss sheen, so that's the varnish I would start with. Wipe on several thin coats using a paper towel or clean cotton cloth, letting each coat dry before applying the next. Scuff sand with 320 grit after the first two coats, and apply four to six coats total and you should have something very close to the table. Good luck.

John

[Arun Srinivasan]

Thank you for your encouragement Art Appreciate it.

John: Thank you for the very detailed reply. I am not sure if I can find dyes readily in India (Does Varathane make any?) but Shellac is definitely available here is a blog post which details some of the shellac varieties available in India http://indiandiy.blogspot.in/2012/05...ac-finish.html
I can get wipe on oil based Poly would you recommend I thin it to 50% with mineral spirits for a top coat?

I also found the poster who finished the table I linked to earlier and I understand he used 17 coats of boiled linseed oil thinned with turpentine and then finished with beeswax.

[John TenEyck]

Arun, that link shows that a lot of shellac options are available to you, and I think you should be able to mix/match them to get the color you want. If you can buy a wipe on poly then it's already thinned and you should not need to thin it any further. Try it and see if it spreads out nice and thin. If not, add a little mineral spirits until you are happy with how it works.

Boiled linseed oil offers NO protection, no matter how many coats you apply, nor does beeswax. Their advantage is they are easy to use and give a nice feel. But any liquid that gets spilled and not wiped up immediately will leave a stain. Neither has a place in my shop.

John

[Arun Srinivasan]

Thank you John I will pick up some Shellac tomorrow and keep you posted on how that turns out.

Couple more questions if you don't mind..

How much should I sand before applying Shellac?
Finally, I have water based PU can i use that with Shellac or do i need oil based Polyurethane?

Arun

[John TenEyck]

How much you need to sand depends upon the wood. With the woods I use, mostly oak, cherry, walnut, I usually sand to 180 grit when I'm going to apply a film finish. Make some samples sanded to different final grits and see how you like how it looks after you go through the entire finishing process.

Yes, you CAN use WB poly over dewaxed shellac, but it might not bond well if your shellac has wax in it. OB will bond to either. Also, I doubt you will be able to get very good results trying to wipe on a WB poly. You'll probably have to use a brush or spray it.

John

[Arun Srinivasan]

Thank you John, I have been reading up instructions on using Shellac and most ask for using either a stain or a dye before using Shellac.. Do you think Shellac by itself would do?

[John TenEyck]

Thank you John, I have been reading up instructions on using Shellac and most ask for using either a stain or a dye before using Shellac.. Do you think Shellac by itself would do?

Arun, whether or not the shellac alone will give you the color you want depends upon what shellacs are available to you. The link you posted suggested to me that they might work without having to dye or stain the piece. No way to know for sure except to get some and try them on some scrap.

John

[Arun Srinivasan]

John, Got some shellac first thing and tried a few coats. Here is what it looks like http://imgur.com/a/AWx5c It does look very good but I would like a bit more red..

[John TenEyck]

Hi Arun,

That is pretty, but you're right, it's not as red as the table. So, you either need a different shellac, if one is available, or you need to add some alcohol soluble dye to the shellac you have to tint it red. Transtint dye works great for this and is one of my favorite ways of adjusting color.

John

[Arun Srinivasan]

THank you John, I haven't been able to find a Transtint dye equivalent here maybe it's called something different? Will check. Denatured Alcohol is proving to be quite hard to find can I use mineral spirits for dissolving Shellac?

Also they also have button lac discs. The store owner doesn't think the color will be different but said it's a superior grade. Do you think I should get that instead?

[Arun Srinivasan]

http://imgur.com/a/Y1a11 Here are some pictures of the Shellac I got John. The store owner didn't know the difference between waxed and de-waxed shellac so I am not sure which one this is

He suggested the item you see in Pic no.2 apparently it adds shine to the finish. I also managed to find Ethyl Alcohol but it's 3 times as expensive as mineral spirits. What do you think?

[adam robinson]

Mine advice you to polish them those wooden things for the attraction....

[John TenEyck]

Shellac won't dissolve in mineral spirits, only alcohol and maybe a lacquer thinner or acetone, but I'm not sure about those two. Perhaps you can order Transtint to be shipped to you? As for the button lac shellac, I have no clue. You'd have to get some and try it.

If your primary objective is to match the reddish color of the other table, then there are several options:

Shellac alone. It doesn't look like this approach is going to work based on your feedback so far.

Shellac plus Transtint (or other alcohol soluble) dye. That would definitely work if you can get the dyes.

Water soluble dye. If you have a source for water soluble dye you could dye the wood and then apply your topcoats of shellac, varnish, whatever. Or you could add the dye to a water based topcoat and use it as a toner, just like using Transtint in shellac.

Stain. If all else fails you could stain the piece using a pigmented stain, either oil based or water based. That would be my last choice, and I'd only do that if all other options fail.

John