Help hardwood outdoor table

Please help a newbie. Ive looked around for ideas to seal/finnish an outdoor table and benchseats. Its around 18mths old and was made using green hardwoods, mainly ironbark and blackbutt. It was painted with an opaque sealer/stain maybe a wattyl product. As it dries and shrinks the gaps have appeared as expected along with lots of cracks and the nail fillings are white. Its been outside uncovered mostly and so I thought it needed an oil to feed the wood. Might this stop the cracks getting worse while it dries or should we varnish/polyurethane the table to stop it drying anymore. The danish oil mixtures in one thread seem ok: linseed oil/turps/polyurethane? Please give any advice you think could help.
Thanks in advance.
G

I have used a product called Penetrol made by fullers i think,so as long as you maintain it by ragging it over once a year with the same product it will last forever.I did some church doors many years ago and on the last visit back to SA it was still like the day i did it and it is exposed to the weather so that is some endorsement for the product,it can also be used in enamel paint to help adhere and also paint it direct on galv iron as a primer to paint over........Hope this helps you in some way.

Reguards Tasman

thanks for your fast response. I have used Penetrol in the past to prime some old fake veneer cupboards in the kids room and kitchen and this seemed to work well.The wood has probably dried out too fast in the sun and i would like to condition it or feed it (don't know the correct term) to stop the long cracks. It would be nice for it to have a good rich look not dried out and grey. Would Penetrol help this problem. Maybe over a stain or oil???? Thanks again.
G

yes it should rejuvinate the timber but you have to maintain it every year if outside....it wont get the grey out though,i swear by it witht he results i have had.

Tasman

Penetrol comes in many forms too! :D Check out the flood website at http://www.floodaustralia.net/contents.htm.

cuplu things G,
Penetrol is good stuff. I went to their website thanks to Tasman and Salty, made an enquiry and they responded with in hours, so their support is good too.

As for your project, why don't you dis-assemble it and really go through it. Clean everything. Maybe plug or fill the screw holes that show, and re-fasten form under.

I do all my projects like that, and the results are greater for longer. Just a thought.
Cheers,
conwood

Can you help me please. I also have an ironbark outdoor table. I had it custom made 10 years ago. It was originally painted with something called deksal or the like. It looked great but this did not last long in the weather so I coated it with estapol. Estapol also did not last more than a year before it started cracking and peeling. I then sanded it and painted it with an outdoor timber finish. This seemed to work well in the wather but it was a paint and so took away the natural rich red grain. The table weighs nearly 400 KG and I have had to move it with a crane whenb we moved house. After much hassle with this during our last move I decided to pull the whole thing down and remove the screws to be replaced with brackets under thwe bench seats and top. It can now be pulled apart when it needs to be moved. I have just spent 3 days flat out sanding all the paint off and adding the brackets. The problem is I don't know what to varnish it with. I want to restore the natural grain finish it originaslly had. Should I coat it with epoxy resin? If so should I oil it first? The timber appears thirsty and some long cracks are starting to show. I sprayed some CRC around a couple of the screws I was having difficulty removing and noticed the oil soaked into the surrounding timber. Please advise asap I'm ready to paint.

There is a product i have had a great deal of success with called "PENETROL" you can get it at bunnings of hardware stores.You just paint it on and let it dry,usually a few coats do the trick then every year rag it all over with the penetrol to freshen it up and keep the seal,i can fully recomend it for out door timber as long as you do the maintenace every year............also good for steel as well to keep rust out ............ Tasman

Tasman
I agree with you. I have used Penetrol wood oil for nearly everything (I've read Neil's book (Bludy good book :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D ), but if you don't find the patience to do as he says :D ) this is the stuff.
I've just ducked downstairs to grab a tin of it. It dosen't say anything about restrictions using it in outdoors, so I gather if you use plenty of it regularly, it should be ok.

Robmac
Please oh please don't use any paint, vanish, epoxy etc, etc on your outdoor setting. You have just mentioned your dramas getting rid of the old finish, give penetrol a go, or even use vegetable oil, don't use any type of varnish!!!!
You will have to re-oil the setting every six months or so, but that is only a small price to to pay for a well made, natural timber setting. :D

I have not used the Penetrol oil and will take Tasman/Bruce's word for it.

It is interesting that that web site given by Salty says that the Penetrol wood oil is for interior finishes. The only one they seem to recommend for outdoors is the marine environment one, Deks Olje. Haven't used that either, but I assume it comes at a price, especially given the application rate it mentions.

Hi Goshawk,

From the photo, your furniture looks like it's been finished with a product by Intergrain called DWD. I've used it on my deck, and am also dissatisfied with it's long term performance.


Justin.

Can't you simply use a decking oil or an outdoor furniture oil? I use decking oil on a table I made (and a letter box and the deck) and it works fine in my estimation. You need to reappy it every few months, but that doesn't take all that long.

I use wattyl natural decking oil I think.

Trav