I have a client who wants an ash dining table. She’d like me to “lime” it, i.e. fill the pores with white wax. My question is, should I indeed use a liming wax to achieve this effect? From research, it also seems that you can use paint to get this effect. And then what, if anything, should I use for finish? She is German, likes the Danish Modern look of an oil finish, which is more “in the wood” than “on” it. Did they typically use anything other than the white wax? Will that hold up on a dining table? She is willing to rewax on occasion. If another finish is recommeded over whatever is used to achieve the white, what can I try that is not going to yellow–so the ash and the white stay white–and that will give that “in the wood” look?
Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.
Replies
e,
that god-awful limed look, eh? that was very popular among the yuppies back in the early 80's, as i recall. if i remember correctly it was done with wiped on white latax paint and then top-coated with poly. later, and to this day, one can buy the stuff at the paint store. maybe you could talk her out of it...
eef
A wax only finish won't survive long on a dining table. There are oil based stains designed to create the look. I'd use that, for the color, and top coat with a water clear waterborne acyrlic finish. A wareborne stain might yellow a little less overtime, but applying that evenly over a surface as large as a table would be very challenging. If you keep the coating light, and use a low viscosity top coat with a satin or matte sheen you will still retain much of the open pore look but with much more protective properties. ,
Limed Ash
Thanks for the reply. So, you'd suggest a white, oil based stain, followed by a water based finish over it.
I tried the liming wax today, which gave a nice effect. I guess I'm looking more to fill the pores than color the rest of the ash, and it gives that effect. I opened the pores first with a bronze brush, and wiped on the wax, and then wiped the excess off with a Tung oil thinned with turps (trying to aproximate Liberon's "finishing oil.") How durable do you think 2 or 3 or 4 coats of Tung oil would be for the top? Would that yellow much over time?
If I'm trying to just keep the white in the pores, what would you think about a pore filler, colored white? Followed by a water based top coat. I'm concerned that the oil based stain would color everything, including the pores. Maybe I would just have to sand it off with 220. In spite of the "shabby chic" nature of much liming, this piece is a contempory one, and I'm looking for an elegant, white on white sort of effect, rather than looking like old paint that's been removed.
Thanks, too, for the replies from other folks these last couple of days.
You can get an approximation of the limed effect as you describe. Here is a link to an item I did a few years ago using white water based paint on oak. It's not a very good photograph as it's over-exposed, but the technique is described briefly at the link. You can use most film forming finishes over the wood after the paint has been applied and sanded back. As Steve Schoene suggested, a water based clear finish will likely cause the least change in the colour of the ash. Slainte.
http://www.richardjonesfurniture.com/Cabinet-Furniture/reception-desk/reception-desk.html
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