Fingers Crossed - Finishing table

[Alexam]

Just having a go at a new surface for this coffee table that we have had since we were married over 50 years ago. The polish build up was sticky, but I have today rubbed it down after cleaning it off and plan to finish it with Tru-Oil.

Now I have never done anything as large as this before. The Tru-Oil is excellent for the bandsaw boxes and seems to be good and hard when dry, but has anyone an opinion on this finish being hard enough for a coffee table, or should I be finishing with something else to have a harder, lasting finish that will not require polishing?

When I tried to google this question, some say Poly and some say oil ??? Can you help please?

Just been reading up a bit more and a suggestion was sanding sealer and a couple of coats of poly? Does that sound right?

Malcolm

 

[MIGNAL]

You can certainly get harder finishes than Tru Oil. Any finish intended for a bar top is almost certainly going to be harder/longer wearing and probably better at resisting solvents, certainly alkaline solutions.
Tru oil is a nice finish, pleasant to use and thin, so it's not so much affected by dust nibs.

 

[Alexam]

Thanks, any suggestions as to what would be helpful.

 

[MIGNAL]

It's a bit out of my area of knowledge. I tend to use more traditional materials. Having said that I don't see why you can't use something like a floor varnish. By definition it should be hard wearing. It's probably more about technique. Any finish that contains oil tends to highlight any scratches in the surface of the wood. Usually you have to finish the woodwork to a higher grit than you would if using something like shellac. I'd probably take it to 600G (I've gone higher). I'm referring to really looking at the surface under raking light. Some folk think that you can rub varnish back with 0000 wirewool and it's 'perfect'. To me it's full of scratches. I suppose it all depend just how closely you look at these things. I'm quite sure you can get it looking like glass if you put in the effort. I don't particularly like that full on glass look but some folk love it. If you want that look it's just a case of putting enough coats on, allowing it all to harden and sink back for a few weeks and then you hit it with abrasives, going from medium to fine to liquid polishing compounds. Sounds like a lot of work, it is.

 

[Alexam]

Thank you for those details. I have already gone to 320 after cleaning and then 400 and removed the fine scratches that were not so obvious when in use. I intend to us 600 before any sealing and then the 600 or finer lightly between coats. I agree that the glass like finish is not as attractive for me on this sort of table and a more satin type finish would be what I was after, so that the wood feels and looks 'right'.
Malcolm

 

[MIGNAL]

Ah well. Satin is much easier to get right. Not a bad choice IMO.

 

[Alexam]

I picked up some Ronseal Interior Satin Varnish with 'diamond hard' protection that is water based, but thought afterwards that I may have made a mistake and should have bought poly. ??? I could take it back to exchange ?

Malcolm

 

[MIGNAL]

No idea, out of my experience. Someone else might be able to comment.

 

[Bm101]

Hi Malcolm, I guess you have moved away from the tru oil option and you probably know this in all likelihood but (out of personal interest if I'm honest) have you tried the Gun stock wax? It's supposed to provide extra protection, whether this is suitable for your table I don't know. Not sure people put cups of tea on their shotgun stocks. Anyone got any ideas? Sorry if I'm hijacking the thread a little but it's all for the sake of general enlightenment. Mostly my general enlightenment ( ) but it all helps I guess.
Cheers
Chris

 

[Alexam]

Hi Chris,

I have not moved away from Tru-Oil, but was unsure if it was suitable for the coffee table that needs re-surfacing. Thne response I have had is not as good as I had hoped. It is like pulling teeth to get information on what I would have thought was a subject that a lot of members knew about. It was me who needed the help.

As for gun stock wax, I am more than happy with the microcrystaline wax polish I use for some boxes, so no need to change, so can't help I'm sorry to say.

As for my table, I have just finished sanding it bach again after sanding sealer that tended to streak more trhan normal. Now ready to start top coats, but wanted to knoew if the Ronseal Interior Varnish with Diamond Hard protection would be suitable or should I go for a poly finish and if so what. Perhaps it's a great trade secret and nobody wants to bother to answer?

Malcolm

 

[Bm101]

Sorry I can't help more Alex. Have you tried searching for trade finishers for bar tops in pubs etc? You might pick up some clues from their websites maybe.

 

[Alexam]

Don't worry, I've gone ahead without waiting. Thanks.
Malcolm

 

[AndyT]

Hi Alex - I hope this response is in time to be useful.

I first used Tru-oil on small items such as tool handles and liked the results and the ease of application, so I used it on my little bedside chest of drawers.

On the oak drawers and sides the finish is an "invisible" matt - enough to add some colour and provide a bit of protection against dirt. That's exactly what I wanted.

The drawer pulls and the top are in yew, and because it is such a tightly grained wood, the finish builds up on the surface far more. This gives a nice sheen:

However, after a year in use, the top is not unmarked. I've not been especially precious about it, though I have used a coaster for hot cups. The scratches don't show up where it is, but on a coffee table in full view they might be more annoying. I think Tru-oil is tough, in that it does not separate from the wood's surface, but that does not mean that it cannot be scratched in use.
I will either live with it, recoat it, or take the finish back to satin by gentle work with a fine abrasive - I'd probably use superfine steel wool or Micromesh.

With all that said, if I was finishing a coffee table like yours, I would follow Custard's advice and use Osmo PolyX. He uses it on beautiful wooden desks whose owners will be fussy but careless, and for him it's the best compromise between toughness, scratch resistance and appearance.

PS - If you want more responses you might want to change the subject line to something that mentions Tru-oil or your table top - I nearly didn't bother reading this thread until it popped up in the New Posts.

 

[Alexam]

I appreciate that Andy, but have gone ahead with the Varnish route. I have not used that before but have favoured Tru-Oil which I use on my bandsaw boxes a lot. I love it. I thought it may not be quite hard enough for an inlaid busy coffee table, Will see what happens and at worst I will only have to strip it again later.

Malcolm

 

[Alexam]

OK, so I went ahead with the varnish, but after the second coat, I was not very happy with the results of the sating finish. I then went for the gloss poly and a couple of coats later it looks like this.

However, I think it's a bit too glossy, so the next step would be ? I think, maybe, a light rub with scotchbright green, but would I then need to buff it with something and if so, what please.
Malcolm

 

[marcros]

do you have any wax, malcolm? I would use a bit of microcrystalline to give it a soft sheen.

 

[Alexam]

Thank for that.
The reason I started this job was to get rid of marks and the wax build up. I do have microcrystaline wax polish but is that enough on top of the gloss, or do I still take the 'edge' off with the green scotchbrite?
Malcolm

 

[marcros]

i will have to defer to others on that- I have not used it on top of poly varnish. I generally use it on an oil based finish, so that part is unnecessary.

http://diy.stackexchange.com/questions/ ... cess-gloss is relevant- looks like you may be able to skip the wax, and that you are on the right lines with the scotch brite. I would be tempted to nip out there and varnish an offcut of something similar in colour, so that you can check that you like the effect. saves having to strip it back if you dont like it.

 

[Alexam]

Having left it for a while, it seems to be settling down, or perhaps it's me getting used to it, so I may leave it 'as is' for now and see if we are happy living with it.

When I was looking for answers, particularly on using Poly and getting a good finish, I came across a good video from the other side of the pond, which may interest others. A guy called Paul Kolaski, who offers help with finishing and his method of 'laying down' is very good and really works.

Take a peek at his Web http://www.paulsdiy.solutions/ and you may see something you didn't know about?

Anyway, thanks for all the help.

Malcolm