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I’m lucky to have found some very old (>60 years) pine boards. This is beautiful wood with tight straight grain and a warm golden color all through it. Right now I’m using some on a little table for legs and trim. I’d like to keep the finished color close to the natural color, but put on a durable finish that will add some protection to the soft wood.
Any recommendations? I’ve never finished old pine before.
Dave
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Dave,
If it were me, I would use Interlux Goldspar 95 which is a high grade marine polyurethane spar varnish. Unlike your "off the self" polys, Interlux has UV blockers that will retard significantly the "yellowing" effect, especially in view that this is an interior piece, I assume.
It is a high gloss finish, so if you want a satin finish use 600 grit silicon paper, wet, or 1200 grit silicon, wet, for a semi gloss finish. No thinning is required and is not recommended.
It can be purchased through your local chandlery or marina.
A less expensive alternative would be to use MinWax's Helmsman Spar Urethane although I have found it to be totally unsuitable for exterior pieces, even though they claim that it is formulated for exterior work.
Dano
*If it were a perfect world I'd apply linseed oil and beeswax over a period of months; barring that I'd probably use a varnish as Dano has suggested.
*Marine spar varnish (non-poly) and mineral spirits, 50/50 wiped on for 8-12 coats depending on the use.If you want a non glossy finish use satin varnish. It works beautifully on antique furniture.
*Dave,I should add that Interlux Goldspar 95, even though it is a poly varnish, it does not have the "plastic" look normally associated with off the self polyurethane varnishes. If one would finish a piece of stock using Goldspar 95 on one half and Interlux's Schooner Varnish 96 (traditional spar) on the other half, there would be no difference in appearance.FWIW, Interlux does make an interior varnish, Goldspar Satin 60 (formerly called Rubbed Effect 60), which is a modified polyurethane but does not have UV blockers.One thing to remember because these are high quality marine varnishes, they are extremely durable. Unlike your off the shelf brand of polyurethane varnishes, these will not "spider web" from minor dings.When a commissioned work calls for a varnished finish I use Interlux or Epifanes, exclusively.Dano
*Thanks, everyone. I'm going to try thinning some spar varnish and wiping it on. The wood I'm using has almost gotten me convinced it isn't pine. It is very old. As close as I can figure, it had been an unidentifiable thick plank serving as part of the bottom to a stack of lumber in our university wood storage room. The room has had lumber in it since the 1930s definitely, and probably earlier. I'm pretty sure the plank was part of the original rack built to stack lumber on. The reason I bring this up is because I only have a little of this wood, and I LOVE working with it. If there is a picture attached, please tell me if you recognize the wood and if it is indeed old pine. If it is something else, what? No matter what it is, I'd like to find more. Does anyone know of a commercial source for antique wood like this?Dave
*Well, Dave, kinda hard to tell from your picture, it does appear to have some resin streaks. Too bad it's not a "scratch and sniff" photo. Does remind me of Gumwood, though.As for your question about "antique wood", the common term is "recycled wood" and there are lumber yards through out the U.S. that specialize in recycled lumber, suggest you do a search at http://www.woodfinder.com for the location nearest you. FWIW.Dano
*Take a pass or two with a plane and smell it as Dano has suggested.
*Normally pine is easily identified by smell. The main reason I'm unsure is because it doesn't smell much at all. And I've got some modern pine in the shop that smells no matter how close my nose is to it. For now I'll pretend this wood is Pine. I guess knowing for sure doesn't really matter since this is a table for me I'm making, and I'll just say "pine" if anyone asks what it's made of. Of course the last time I claimed something was pine, the questioner began this really annoying begging/pleaing/wishing/wanting kinda routine. I had NO IDEA where that came from. Seemed as though she was pining for me, though.If you're curious, here's the table "almost" finished. It started life as a quicky plywood stand, joined with sliding dovetails and butt ugly. I found a perfect place for it though, and have spent about a month adding a drawer, trimming, refining, critiquing, and so on. Some day soon I'll stop and put on the finish.Dave
*Dave, Im with Dano the smell should give it away. I have worked with Antique Pine often and no matter how old it has been it has always had that pine smell. From the picture it could even be taken as old birch or basswood. It really shouldnt matter what it is as long as you like working with it, and you enjoy the outcome.
*Nice table. How is the backsplash attached?
*CStan...Thanks. Right now the backsplash isn't attached. I just sorta taped all the raw parts together to take that pre-finished picture. I'm putting on the individual pieces now, but leaving contact areas raw to glue to the main plywood body. I also taped off the plywood when painting it so there is no paint where the pine parts will glue to. The backsplash sets in a shallow rabbit. It helps stiffen the top, and will be glued to the rabbit and screwed into from the underside of the top. A screw near each end, and a couple evenly spaced in the middle no doubt.The table will sit under a large window, and straddle a floor AC vent. The backsplash will keep anything from falling off the back and ending up in the AC duct.Dave
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