Finish for Victorian Ash

Hi all,

I am about to complete a television cabinet made from Vic Ash. I have sanded down to 1200 grit and am considering the finish to apply, and would welcome ideas.

I want at all costs to avoid the yellowing that seems to be implicit with the use of poly urethane. (A country-style kitchen table I had professionally made 10 years ago that was coated in Poly is now an unpleasant light orange/yellow shade, depending on the light).:no:

If possible I would like the finish to darken the timber a little. A previous project with the same timber used tung oil and wax very successfully but has not resulted in a change in colour, just an emphasis of the grain (no bad thing). I tried some Feast Watson stain/varnish products on some offcuts yesterday with some confronting results, so perhaps a stain is not the way to go this time.

What say you?

Karl

Hi.

I'm part way through a build using vic ash & have noticed how open pored & grainy it is. I used shellac with talc as a filler and this stage it appears to be working well.

(I am using proof spirit tint in shellac to colour it).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Karl1

Hi all,
I want at all costs to avoid the yellowing that seems to be implicit with the use of poly urethane. (A country-style kitchen table I had professionally made 10 years ago that was coated in Poly is now an unpleasant light orange/yellow shade, depending on the light).

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Unfortunately anything that is oil based will yellow with time. Just part of the oxidation process. Not to mention that the timber will lose some of its blonde/pink tonings and yellow on exposure as well. A waterbased coating will leave the color alone as much as possible. That just leaves finding a stain you like the colour of prior to finishing

If staining, it is advisable not to sand it too fine first otherwise more difficult for stain to penetrate.

My 2 cents worth......Use raw or pure tung oil for the results you mentioned. Being pure with no drier additives, it takes longer to dry but the result is well worth the wait. Tung oil will darken the timber a little for the first 3 coats but will not obscure the grain. You can buy it from several paint shops; don't go for the tung oil finishes sold in hardware stores, as they have poly and linseed and god knows what else.

Minimum three coats are required about 4 days between coats. If you need more build and a nice hand rubbed patina apply a couple more coats. Vic ash being open grained, will absorb the first 2 coats like a sponge.
I would advise you to dilute only the first coat with not more than 10% turps for better penetration and subsequent coats neat.

Leave the piece for about 2 weeks to cure then buff with a soft cloth or wax if you like.
Hope this helps

Cheers, Evan :)

Thanks to all who replied. Much appreciated and very useful.

The water-based polyurethane is something I wasn't aware of, and white shellac with spirit-based tint similarly.

Evan, I did try Feast Watson tung oil ( a mixture of TO and other things) followed by wax on a previous Vic Ash project but as I mentioned there was no discernable darkening of the timber. Are you saying that pure tung oil will result in an observable darkening compared to the other stuff?

Karl

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Karl1

Thanks to all who replied. Much appreciated and very useful.

The water-based polyurethane is something I wasn't aware of, and white shellac with spirit-based tint similarly.

Evan, I did try Feast Watson tung oil ( a mixture of TO and other things) followed by wax on a previous Vic Ash project but as I mentioned there was no discernable darkening of the timber. Are you saying that pure tung oil will result in an observable darkening compared to the other stuff?

Karl

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It will darken the timber noticably when you apply the first coat thinned with a little turps and succesive coats neat but not anything like a stain.
The Feast Watson tung oil finish form the big B, is what I avoid as it contains poly and linseed with very little tung. The poly in this brew sets off the finish which explains why you can apply further coats 24 hrs later whereas raw tung takes 4 to 5 days to dry per coat.
If you were to apply 5 coats all up for your project you will notice a darkening of the timber and the whole finishing process including 2 weeks curing will take just over 1 month and the good thing about raw/pure tung is it doesn't yellow the timber over time and scratches can be lightly rubbed out with fine steel wool and recoated again without resorting to stripping the whole piece had poly been used.
I purchase it in litre bottles from the "paint zone" 232 High St. Preston 9480 5698 and from memory it set me back $18 in June. It is best to call to see if they have it on hand before driving out there.

I wouldn't stain vic ash (aka tassie oak) because it blotches ending up with uneven coloration.


Cheers, Evan :)

Tung oil yellows over time but not to the extent of linseed oil.
The only 2 water clear finishes that don't yellow are white shellac or water based clear.