HELP ME! Recycled hardwood timber finishing

Hi all, noob virgin here, but dont let that scare you off!

Am getting back into the woodwork post divorce, but dont know how to finish things properly

I have some recycled hardwood that apparently came from the old norah head lighthouse on the central coast. Tried googling it but no details as to what sort of timber it is.

I am making a four poster bed.

Basically, i have stolen, oops borrowed my old mans belt sander and have currently sanded it with a 40 (or 60 grit).

It has some nail holes and knots in it, being recycled.

I want to stain it a dark jarrah/reddy brown colour, and will prolly highlight the nail holes and knots with a deliberately darker colour.

My current theory as to what i should be doing with it is

i) fill all the holes (with something from bbc, but not sure what)
ii) do my routing on it.
iii) belt sand with the two finer grains of paper.
iv) stain it
v) lacquer it.

All help much appreciated. Basically, what should i fill it with, stain it with, and lacquer it with? Anything i should avoid?

I might get some jpegs of the wood and post tomorrow if that will help

Kindest regards
doctorpaul

Gday,
I would be interested in seeing those photos of the timber. As for filling the holes I would just leave them as they are; unless they are huge. I'm not sure about your staining, are you planning to stain with two different hues? In my limited experience with stains, knots and holes suck up more anyway so they will appear darker than the rest of the timber.

Other than that your method looks pretty good just make sure you get all the sanding scratches out before you stain the timber.

I will definately be staining in some form. The timber is too light for my liking, as i have some darker pieces i want the bed fram to blend in with.

Also, i really want the stain to highlight, not hide the grain and knots, which was another reason i was thinking about filling the holes with something vvv dark!

Post some jpegs tomorow

I think the best part of using recycled timber is the distressed look is already there. i wouldn't fill the holes, they add to the character IMHO.

one colour of stain will probably do just apply twice to the areas to be darker or hold the rag there longer and let the knots suck up the stain.

the woodwhisperer did a video called "pop the maple" or something like that describing grain higlighting using stain, sand then stain. Do this local to the knots.