Replies

1. 
   Rich14 | Mar 29, 2007 06:56am | #1

   Luke

   The look you are after is more often called a "piano finish." It's the result not of varnish, but of filling the wood pores with a silex filler and applying many coats of gloss lacquer, rubbed out to a glass-like polish.

   Rich

1. 
   LukeWood | Mar 29, 2007 07:05am | #2

   Thanks Rich. Can I put an oil coat down before the silex?

1. 
   Pondfish | Mar 29, 2007 01:48pm | #3

   oil and plaster is a traditional and good way to fill pores, so I suspect oil and silex would work, too.

   ...try it on scrap first...Recommending the use of "Hide Signatures" option under "My Preferences" since 2005

2. 
   Rich14 | Mar 29, 2007 03:39pm | #4

   Luke, Yes. The usual sequence is oil or stain, then sanding sealer (to protect the wood from the stain in the pore filler), then tinted pore filler. Behlens Pore-o-Pac comes in a "walnut" (dark brown stain) version. After the pore filler, another application of sanding sealer (optional) then lacquer coats. Let the oil cure for at least a week. Let the pore filler harden for several days. I like Sherwyn Williams high solids vinyl sanding sealer and their nitrocellulose lacquer or CAB Acrylic. Practice on scraps first. Rich

   Edited 3/29/2007 8:39 am ET by Rich14

2. 
   frenchy | Mar 30, 2007 03:02am | #7

   Rich

    I refer back to my  1953 MGTD, restored back in 1974 my blackwalnut dash was done with a marine grade spar varnish.. It still looks great today.

1. 
   Rich14 | Mar 30, 2007 05:22am | #8

   frenchy, Having had the pleasure of owning a 36' sloop, I have finished and refinished my share of teak "brightwork" with marine spar varnish. I know how wood looks under that material and how to use it. I also know how the woodwork looks in a high end Mercedez-Benz or Jaguar, and how to achieve that gloss lacquer look of richness. Marine spar does a great job of protecting wood exposed to the elements, but it is not even in the same universe as a lacquer finish for perfection of film uniformity, surface quality and long-term clarity and durability. Rich

1. 
   frenchy | Mar 30, 2007 06:15am | #9

   Rich,

    I'm certain you've finished more Jaguar dashes Than I have.   Most of those I've done were done to achieve that gloss you speak of and so I did them with lacquer.  However when exposed to the weather lacquer is too prone to peel, flake, and cloud in my humble experience..If you note only the coupes and hardtops had wood dashes the rest had a variety of different style dashes but not wood.   I suppose you could argue that the 1956 drop head was a convertible but please note that only the 1956 had the wood dash.   No convertible  Jaguar from then on did. Rolls Royce too never put a wood dash on any convertible from the factory.. I can only think of 6 dashes I did, all but one were on cars of mine the sixth one was done in exchange for a set of 3 , 2 inch SU's for a 3.8

    It's not the paint,, heck most car finishes I've done are lacquer. I love Nitro lacquer for auto finishes. What happens is the wood gets wet somehow, (too many ways to list) and then problems happen.

       Spar varnish seems to be capable of dealing with wet underlying wood, as proof I offer my MG,  That car has been driven in the rain, raced in the rain, left in the rain, and even one winter thru the snow.

       I'll grant you there are a whole lot of dash plaques on it and more than a few tech stickers from races I've entered, but the finish itself has held up well for the past nearly 40 years..

2. 
   DonStephan | Mar 30, 2007 01:32am | #5

   A car dash gets some of the worst possible conditions for a finish:  temp extremes depending on location from -20 degrees F to 100+ degrees (if windows closed), extreme dryness, high humidity, ...

   You might check on a car restoration forum for suggestions of the type of finish to use.  At minimum I would complete the anticipated finish schedule on a sample board and try to subject to the likely temperature and moisture extremes to see how well it holds up.

1. 
   Rich14 | Mar 30, 2007 02:59am | #6

   Don,

   Good point. I have seen Nitro hold up surprisingly well and CAB-Acrylic should do better than that. But for real resistance to the conditions encountered, automotive acrylics should be the choice.

   Problem is, for such a small project, this could get real expensive!

   Rich