This is my first post here in Knots. I’m usually lurking in Breaktime but I’ve got a finishing question.
I acquired a few slabs of nicely figured cherry about ten years ago and I just sealed up the ends and let them dry until a project for them materialized. Well that project is a headboard for a king-sized bed for a cabin that we have up in Vermont.
Since the tree must have been bent, when the slabs were milled, they were plainsawn and have a nice curve to them. That is . . . if you looked at the headboard from the foot of the bed, it would have a nice sort of semicircular top edge (where the bark was) but still look natural and organic because nature formed it that way. I’m going to support it with four posts which will be bolted to the bed frame. Don’t know what species to use for those because they wouldn’t be too visible anyway. Also, I’ll make sure to design the attachments to the vertical posts to take the seasonal expansion/contraction cycles into consideration.
Anyway, I didn’t have a jointer large enough for the face of the slab, so I did it the old fashioned way, with winding sticks and sharp hand planes, finishing up with scrapers. (Amazing how many shavings those make) It really is a striking piece of wood.
To finish it, I’m using (right or wrong) Tung Oil Finish which I assume is partially polymerized tung oil with solvents, dryers and who-knows-what-else in it. The directions say to rub it in, let dry fifteen minutes, then wipe off any that hasn’t soaked into the wood. I’m rubbing it in with #0000 steel wool and have done it three times so far. Finally . . . . my question.
How many times do I have to do this? Will this ever give me a deep, rich, lustrous finish? Have I screwed up? Will the finishing Gods ever look upon me with kindness again? What is my place in the Universe? etc. etc. etc.
Thank you.
Replies
Tung oil finish = a form of oil based varnish, if somewhat soft.
Four or five coats should give you an attractive finish. Ten or fifteen will add to the lustre and depth-- how far you go is rather up to you.
It looks attractive, but it is a little soft for dining tables, coffee tables, kitchen cabinets, and so on. It will probably perform quite nicely on a bed with a bit of occasional maintenance. Slainte.
fingers,I agree with Sgian, except if you are referring to the product "Tung Oil Finish" which is a commercial product containing a varnish and linseed oil. It may contain some tung oil as well, I don't know. It's a typical oil/varnish preparation, applied exactly as you are doing, which will build somewhat faster than polymerized tung oil itself and result in a somewhat more durable film.Rich
Don't ever learn anything new. Rather than give you satisfaction that you know more than you did, it will only confirm you know less than you thought by opening horizons to things of which you had never dreamt and which you now must explore.
For an oil finish on cherry that has superb luster:
I've found that somewhere around the 6th coat the cherry starts looking less muddy and more shiny.
Also, get rid of the steel wool. After your 3rd coat, wet sand the oil with 220 or 320 grit paper to make a slurry of oil and sawdust. Wipe this in going diaginally across the grain; it will fill the pores in the wood. You should only need one wet sanding step, but a second one won't hurt. After that, use either 320 grit sanding sponges or the scotch-brite like pads from 3M (white ones are best). Steel wool is a mess.
One last thing is you might want to go from using tung oil alone to a tung oil/varnish mixture. Mix equal amounts of tung oil and a top quality varnish (one without UV blockers, since you want that cherry to darken) with mineral spirits. You can add a bit of Japan drier to speed the oil curing. Note that this uses Tung oil (or BLO, but I find BLO has a rancid smell) and not "Tung Oil Finish" like Formby's puts out. That is already a varnish/oil mixture.
Good luck. Be sure to wipe on only a thin film after your third coat, or you will be wasting your oil (since most will end up being wiped off after 30-45 minutes).
To attach the headboard to the posts, try dowels at the top of the headboard and slotted brackets at the bottom. That way the headboard "hangs on the dowels and moves on the brackets. See the pictures of the cherry platform bed I recently completed in the gallery section. The headboard is attached to the uprights in this manner.
-Bob
"Tung oil finish" can mean a number of things including 100% tung oil, an oil/varnish mix, or a wiping varnish. Bob Flexner has an article on the subject at this link - Oil Finishes. With the "rub it in, let dry fifteen minutes, then wipe off any that hasn't soaked into the wood" directions, it sounds like you have a danish oil product.
Personally, I think cherry needs a film forming finish to act as a "lense" on the wood to give it the deep, rich, lustrous finish you're after. Sticking with an oil base finish, I'd use a nice varnish like Waterlox. For added depth, I'd sand the existing finish lightly with 320 grit and then use a coat of shellac. Smooth the shellac with 320 or 400 grit and then apply 2-3 coats of the varnish. The result will be quite striking. Try it on some scrap and see what you think (include the danish oil steps in the finish).
I'm putting together some finish options for cherry at this link - Cherry Finishes - if you'd like to take a look.
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