scrat
New member
Hi folks.
Apologies for my lack of knowledge here, but I've acquired a project today and need a little assistance. In a sale in a local furniture shop, I picked up a solid beech dining table with leaves for £150 - an absolute bargain. The only drawback is that the table is unfinished. It needs sanding to remove a few surface blemishes from when it was stored, but other than that the wood itself is flawless.
The problem is that I have no idea what I'm doing here and would dearly love some advice on a decent finish for the table. I'd like to keep it natural-looking where possible (though darkening it isn't an issue - it's very light, as I assume all beech is, but I'd like to keep it lighter than, say, oak or thereabouts) but I'd like it low-maintenance and hard-wearing. The dining table in our house is usually the center of the action. Between meals it doubles up as a game surface, computer desk, writing desk and pretty much anything else that needs a surface to work on.
I don't want it too glossy (back to the "keep it looking natural" thing) but I understand that I'll need to accept some shine for it to be hardwearing.
My only experience with wood is varnishing some wood with my grandfather when I was young (do I get chased off these boards for mentioning "varnish"? :wink: ).
Huge thanks in advance for your answers folks, I'll try to answer any questions as best as I can.
Cheers,
Aled.
Apologies for my lack of knowledge here, but I've acquired a project today and need a little assistance. In a sale in a local furniture shop, I picked up a solid beech dining table with leaves for £150 - an absolute bargain. The only drawback is that the table is unfinished. It needs sanding to remove a few surface blemishes from when it was stored, but other than that the wood itself is flawless.
The problem is that I have no idea what I'm doing here and would dearly love some advice on a decent finish for the table. I'd like to keep it natural-looking where possible (though darkening it isn't an issue - it's very light, as I assume all beech is, but I'd like to keep it lighter than, say, oak or thereabouts) but I'd like it low-maintenance and hard-wearing. The dining table in our house is usually the center of the action. Between meals it doubles up as a game surface, computer desk, writing desk and pretty much anything else that needs a surface to work on.
I don't want it too glossy (back to the "keep it looking natural" thing) but I understand that I'll need to accept some shine for it to be hardwearing.My only experience with wood is varnishing some wood with my grandfather when I was young (do I get chased off these boards for mentioning "varnish"? :wink: ).
Huge thanks in advance for your answers folks, I'll try to answer any questions as best as I can.
Cheers,
Aled.
