I have a problem I hope someone can help me with. I will be as brief as I
can.
I have a slab of walnut crotch destined to become a coffee table top which
I have labored over for several months. However, in an attempt to remove
some very small scratches I feel that I have ruined my best work to date.
Here is my dilemma.
Initially, I scraped, sanded to 600 grit, followed by 2F and 4f abrasives,
and finally Rottenstone. When I finished with the Rottenstone, it looked
and felt as if it were oiled. In addition, I blew out the grain with my
air compressor between each abrasive process. It was a mirror! I
finished off with ‘Tried & True’ boiled linseed oil.
After working the edges, I noticed I made a few slight scratches on the
top and decided to repair them as follows. I first laid on small pieces
of slightly moistened paper towel to (hopefully) raise the grain and help
smooth out these blemishes. This seemed to help some but not totally
eliminate them probably due to the fact that the Rottenstone process did
not leave much ‘grain’ to raise. I assumed the water would leave dull
spots. I was not disappointed ? it did.
Next, I re-sanded these areas with 600 grit sandpaper followed again by
the 2F, 4F, and the Rottenstone again blowing out after each step. The
compressed air did not work so well this time due, I’m sure, to the first
coat of linseed oil. I again recoated with the same linseed oil. What I
ended up with is dull spots in all of my ‘repaired’ areas. I am not an
expert or a know-it-all, but I was quite certain that my repair would
work. (Harry Truman was once quoted as saying that ‘an expert was someone
who didn’t want to learn anything new because then he wouldn’t be an
expert anymore’.) I’m quite happy being a Krenovian ‘amateur’ because I
still discover new things. My obvious question is how do I get back my
mirror finish??? Or can I?
If it matters, my shop is not heated so I leave on two 500-watt
Quartz-Halogen lamps to keep the temperature in the low 70’s to help keep
the slab warm to aid in the drying or curing of the linseed oil. I also
heat the T&T linseed oil before applying it and use a hair-dryer set on
high while I rub in the oil. I lay the oil on very thinly as per the
directions and wipe down with clean paper towels approximately 30 minutes
afterwards. All of my so-called repair work was done in one afternoon. I
mention this as you may feel that I did not give the ‘water spots’
sufficient time to dry.
I may have to scrape the entire slab down to remove the T&T linseed oil
and start over if I want that ‘mirror’ finish back. I am prepared to do
this. Hopefully, you will have one (or two) ideas, which will spare me
from having to doing this.
I set very high standards for myself. Most craftsmen would probably stop
at 600 grit or 4×0 steel wool and move on. This is an exquisite piece of
God’s work and I have full intention of making all of this beauty visible.
In my opinion, the sandpaper or the steel wool would have left it looking
dull and ‘unfinished’.
Has anyone had this problem before?? Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Replies
I'm going to guess that you did not go down far enough in your grit. If you started lower, at maybe 220, and did it over, it might have been okay.
Tom
I wish he had excerpted his method. I could not keep it straight or even know what he did. Congratulations for hanging in there.
Gretchen
Edited to say that actually we have a piece of crotch walnut we have used for 30 years as a table top so I was VERY interested. We have chosen to use ours a bit differently (I would like to know his base very much).
Edited 2/3/2003 6:12:45 PM ET by GRETCHEN50
You asked whether anyone has had this problem before. For me, it's like "de-javu all over again". About 45 years ago, I bought a some beautiful walnut lumber. The first two items I built were a desk and a coffee table.
The desk is really solid walnut; even the carcass is walnut. It is finished with paste filler followed by several coats of spar varnish, brushed on and rubbed to a gloss finish with pumice, then rottenstone. It has been in use constantly (now at my left next to the computer) The finish is still pristine.
The coffee table is also solid walnut, and a very unusual eliptical design with intersecting eliptical inlays. I finished it with multiple coats of boiled linseed oil, wiping the excess each time, and allowing days to dry each coat. The final coats were rubbed in with rottenstone. The finish was beautiful, but unfortunately didn't last. Drinks produced water spots that were almost impossible to remove ( I say almost because my wife and others were satisified, but I was not - I could tell). Then we moved, and the mover dented one edge. I steamed out the dent (sound familiar?), which left a light-colored spot. I sanded and refinished the entire table. The restored table looked good, but it looked restored. We continued to use it for a while, but then replaced it.
I now have a great deal more experince in wood finishing, and I still have the table (in storage). Your letter may prompt me to attempt another restoration. It will not be boiled linseed oil though; it is just too fragile and water/alcohol sensitive, and it provides almost no scratch protection to the wood surface. I will probably strip it, sand it, spot dye if necessary to even out color, finish with wiping varnish or oil/varnish mix. Maybe rub it out. Definitely finish off with paste wax. You may wish to consider a similar fix.
Let us know what you decide to do and how it turned out.
Wil
This is quick to try and i think it stands a good chance of success:
Slap on some of your oil and scrub the finish in with 4-600 grit wet-and-dry paper on a rubber block,adding more oil as the slurry thickens to keep it moving. Treat the whole top the same way for uniformity's sake. I think the slurry with fine particles of sawdust will act as a filler to make the dull areas shine. If it doesn't work--but i think it will--you've only lost <1/2 hour of time and haven't done anything irreversible to the top.
The slurry will work to even out any inconsistancies and act as a pore filler. Having finished a number of gunstocks over the years (which are frequently crotch claro walnut) I use this a great deal to make things even. You'ver probably seen a high end stock before. They're pretty durn smooth!
Incidentally, for the original poster, if you want oil with a little higher gloss, look for polymerized oils. " Clothes make the man. Naked people have litte or no influence in society" - Mark Twain
There seems to be a lot of redundant effort in your process. No need what so ever to go past 400 grit before you apply finish, and then only if you want an oil finish. But oil finishes never go past a moderately glossy satin finish, they are too soft to build to a coating that can be rubbed out to a mirror finish. Applying pumice and rotten stone to the bare wood makes no sense either, you are likely to just get rottenstone in the pores which when oil soaked will appear to disappear, but which might some time well in the future turn into light grey spots.
If you want a mirror finish that really shines and looks natural and not plasticky, then the best way to go is with french polish.
The other really good looking high gloss finish for walnut is a natural resin varnish, brushed on, sanded with 320 grit between coats and then rubbed out after about 4 coats. If you want all the pores filled to have a true mirror finish, you need to apply pore filler first. For a film finish you need not sand past 220 on the bare wood.
It stay with the oil finish, I would follow the suggestion to sand in the BLO with sandpaper. in your case, I would start with nothing finer than 320 and sand the entire surface evenly. Then finish with 400 grit. . No point going with finer grit.Any immediate difference you might see will disappear in a few weeks. Apply coats of BLO until the surface is even. Your coal is NOT to build up oil on the surface but to make the surface uniform. To get a bit more gloss with the oil finish you can either try an oil varnish mix, but it is still too soft and too thin to really rub out.
Incidentally, the steam raising technique works best with dents, not scratches. And it will raise the grain as you discovered. Before you put on the oil the best approach would be to raise the grain over the entire surface and then sand just enough to remove the raised grain
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