Ok, I’m working on a new mantle for our fireplace. We want something that has a bit of a rustic look (not too rustic though) and looks like it’s been around for a while. I went to a neighbor that had some old barn wood laying around. Found two pieces that looked interesting. The first piece looked to be a piece of oak with some really neat grain-at the time I was thinking quarter sawn. The second piece was just a heavy timber plank that didn’t look like anything. Because of some magnetic character I couldn’t run these pieces through the surfacer, so I grabbed the belt sander and went nuts. That first piece of “oak” with the neat grain has become a rather soft piece of wood with very little graining. It’s definetly a hardwood with a blonde color, but it’s too soft for oak. The piece stains up like a piece of pine-splotchy with a poorly defined grain. The second plank has become a real treasure. I’m not sure what it is, but it’s incredibly hard! The grain is well defined, yet is very closed. The wood varies between a blond and a dark black. I’m thinking I found a piece of walnut and I’m seeing the difference between heart wood and sap wood.
Anyways…here is the question…
What should I do to finish the pieces? We want a finish that’s got an “age” and warmth to it. A polyurethane and some stain is not the finish that we’re looking for. A shelack isn’t it either. I hear some people talk about a “rubbed” finish which sounds interesting. I also hear about people using tounge oil or linseed oil. As an experiment I applied some black floor wax to both pieces of wood. The first one just splotched up with no defined grain. The second one looked awesome with the wax! If we could buff it out for a satin sheen it would be perfect, but I’m not sure if wax is the correct finish to use. What would you do?
Replies
Are you familiar with Watco oil? That's a brand name, and I'm sure there are many other penetrating oil finishes like it out there, but I love that stuff. Their "Natural" enhances the color variations in whatever species I use it on. They also make several shades of colored oil, if you want to tone down any one color and get the wood closer to a single color, like a stain would do. Great stuff, easy to apply, durable and easy to refresh if it ever dries out.
Any other input?
You might enjoy waxing and then buffing it, after applying the Watco.
If the blotching bugs you, you could consider dewaxed shellac as a sealer. Used to have to buy the flakes and mix it yourself, which was fine, but it's even easier now since Zinnser started selling it as "Seal Kote". The wood will still take a stain, but lighter. If you want a darker color, gel stains could work for you. Had much better luck with the Old Masters line than most others. You can grain it with the brush as you put it on and let it sit that way or wipe it off for a lighter shade. Extend your working time by dipping just the tips of the brush in mineral spirits
Rubbing a finish out is a way to level the finish and typically to impart a particular sheen. It works on hard finishes much better than soft (lacquer vs poly), but is more frequently for getting a higher gloss than you'd achieve out of a gun, or a consistant satin across a piece. Jeff Jewitts book Hand Applied Finishes is a good one at describing some ins and outs there, but I suspect its not what you're after.
I can't tell you what to use for a finish. Its possible to make poly look presentable, so don't totally discount it just on reputation. For near a fireplace, pre-cat lacquer might give you a little more resistance to heat and such than some of the softer choices such as poly and oil-varnish / wiping varnish combos such as the Watco. Those, however, won't give you as much surface build, and may get you more towards the 'rustic' you're after." Clothes make the man. Naked people have litte or no influence in society" - Mark Twain
Try posting this at knots in the finishing catagory Im sure the guys over there will be able to help.
I'll add a bit to what's already been said and suggest that you might consider using a wipe-on blend of 60% Watco and 40% gloss poly (or 70/30). This combination will leave you with a more durable penetrated finish than Watco alone and a richer luster. I'd suggest that for the best appearance, you'd want to sand to a minimum of 240 for either the Watco alone or the combo, but I'm not sure how this interfaces with your notions of a rustic mantle.
The basics of application are that you flood the surface with the mixture (mix and store in a lidded jar). In approx. five to twenty minutes (depending on temp) when the material begins to thicken just a bit (your finger will drag a little in it), you thoroughly wipe off all the excess with soft cloth rags (no paper towels allowed). Allow to dry at least overnight and repeat, probably two more times. Then allow it to dry for a minimum of several days. Rub out with #0000 steel wool and then buff with a bonnet on a buffer or drill. For most applications, I paste wax this finish (just apply it with the #0000 at the same time you rub out) but I'm not sure that's advisable in this case.
Is this a real wood-burning fireplace that produces real usable heat or is this an ambience gas fireplace that runs with the doors closed? If the heat really rolls out of the fireplace, it may melt/soften the wax on the bottom of the mantle. Wax, in and of itself, IMO is not a finish except perhaps for turned ornamental pieces that are intended to sit around and look pretty, but not be used or subjected to anything. There's not much to lose by applying the wax to your mantle though because if it becomes a problem, you can simply remove it with some mineral spirits.
If you want a finish that becomes sticky in the heat of the fireplace or the heat of summer, then linseed oil would be your choice. I'd leave it in the can on this project.
The same holds true for shellac if this is a heat-producing fireplace; the underside can become sticky when exposed to such high heat. The shellac will likely dry out and craze on the bottom of the mantle over time due to the repeated exposure to the heat as will some other types of film finishes.
This Watco/poly blend is as easy to repair/refresh as Watco alone. Just use mineral spirits to remove any wax you may have applied, do a minimum of sanding and reapply the finish to the area.
I guess if I was disappointed with the appearance of that one piece of wood……I'd find another that was more suitable before I put all my efforts in trying to make a silk purse from a sow's ear.
Great post! Yea, that one was a real disappointment. By the time I had finished typing the post, I had already decided that it wasn't going to the piece to use. Of course, the other one is going to be too short. Guess I'm off to the saw mill. Really, sucks because that was a nice piece. :(
BTW-our oak floors are waxed without any other finish other than some stain. We'll reapply the wax every 8 months or so on the high traffic areas. It really wears out very well, isn't slippery and looks great!
Nothing but wax, eh? Wow. I can only imagine that you must be living a different (more cautious) lifestyle than we do because I can assure you that it just wouldn't fly here. I've heard some other folks over the years say that they love their floors that are waxed and waxed only, but the only solely waxed floors I've had personal hands-on experiences with are the ones I was hired to put a finish on.
I think it would be nearly impossible to keep the dirt and grit of the soles from imbedding in the pores of a solely waxed wood floor in this country home. If we're in to stay for a while, the shoes come off, but during the active in and out periods, it's just too impractical to do. One of the rooms sporting a wood floor here is the kitchen and it takes a real lickin' throughout the course of a day. The oil-based satin poly has been there on old growth VG southern long-leaf heart pine for twelve years now and shows no visible signs of wear.
Maybe your oak floors have a darkish stain on them that helps hide any dirt lodged in the pores. ???
Hope you find the perfect piece of wood for that mantle. Be careful that your wood is at EMC when you build and don't forget to allow for movement when you engineer it.
Knowledge is power, but only if applied in a timely fashion.
Before you access all of the good advice available here, please let us know where you are.
For example, I was doing a hand finish on walnut cabinets in Montecito, California, after the state of California had banned the finishes my client wanted, so naturally, I declined the 50K job.
This all varies from state to state. Let us know where you are.
I'm in Wisconsin.
Yes, the floor is stained dark. As to the floor being porus, I'm thinking that the wax is filling the pores. There is a very high traffic area by a door and it's showing absolutly no signs of dirt. We typically don't bother taking our shoes off, but we also are carefull about tracking dirt around. It's not so much as protecting the floor as it's trying to keep the house clean.