Glossy finish on Iroko

[ByronBlack]

Hi all,

I'm making an Iroko topped table with multiple staves so there is a lot of grain variation and I would like to make a feature of this by having a clear glossy finish that brings out the contrasting colours. On the rest of the table i'm probably going to use danish oil and wax.

2 questions really:

1. What is the best finish for the requirment as mentioned on the Iroko
2. Who make's the palest non-yellowing danish oil? I'll be applying it to sycamore and don't wish to yellow or 'taint' the creamy whiteness of the timber..

Thanks in advance.

 

[Fecn]

2. Who make's the palest non-yellowing danish oil? I'll be applying it to sycamore and don't wish to yellow or 'taint' the creamy whiteness of the timber..

I don't know if it's the palest, but I had some Colron stuff from B&Q that didn't seem to have any kind of stain at all... I used it on my baby changing table last year. Before & After finsihing pics below.

Edit - What am I saying.. I also used the Rustins clear danish oil on my more recent toybox without any obvious yellowing.

 

[ByronBlack]

Cheers Fecn, the danish oil I used on the workbench was Colron but this was quite yellow, but then again it was the only thing they had at B&Q so they probably do a wide range.

Anyone got any idea's on the Iroko?

 

[Lord Nibbo]

I would be tempted to use cellulose sanding sealer as a first coat then a light sand with 240 grit, it will feel like a babies bottom they wipe on some gloss polyurethane.

 

[ByronBlack]

never having felt a babies bottom, i'll trust that it'll be smooth

Cheers LN, i'll give that a go, I've made some finish samples out of the scraps to see which comes out, i'll add yours to the list (well, it's the only one so far!)

 

[Sgian Dubh]

1. What is the best finish for the requirment as mentioned on the Iroko
2. Who make's the palest non-yellowing danish oil? I'll be applying it to sycamore and don't wish to yellow or 'taint' the creamy whiteness of the timber..

You don't say where the table is going into service Byron, but I'll assume it's for internal use, eg, kitchen/dining/coffee table.

All the oil based varnishes, danish oil included, tend to have an ambering or yellowing effect.

A very tough and durable finish are the ranges of water based varnishes. One of their drawbacks is a tendency to put a cold blue cast on the wood making the piece look unfriendly.

One excellent cure for this to apply a seal coat or two of a very pale shellac, specifically a dewaxed shellac. This 'warms' up the wood but it's a finish that changes the colour of the underlying wood very little.

The dewaxed shellac bit is very important because water based finishes are finicky about surface conditions at application. Rub down the shellac to provide a key, then apply two or three coats of the water based varnish as per the maker's instructions.

You end up with a very tough and durable finish that's not cold looking. It might be worth experimenting with this method on some of your sample boards. Two foot square boards are ideal to get a true impression of what the final appearance will be. Slainte.

 

[ByronBlack]

Sgian - thank you for that information. It's quite handy as I have put on a couple of coats of shellac sealer, I was going to go with wax as I already had this at hand, but yourself and a few others have recommended the varnish so I think i'll try that out.

The table itself will be used as a small side table next to the sofa, mainly for holding cups of tea/coffee etc.

One quick question though, what grit is best to use for the rubbing down between coats? I was thinking of using 420?

 

[Sgian Dubh]

what grit is best to use for the rubbing down between coats? I was thinking of using 420?

Between coats of all film forming finish I usually use either 320 or 400 grit-- I prefer 400 usually, especially for sprayed finishes. With brush applied oil based varnishes I also use 220, 240 or 280 grit. If I apply a thinned oil varnish with a rag as a wiping varnish, I usually just rub down with OOOO wire wool.

If you rub out nibs between coats of water based stuff make sure you don't use stearated paper as the stearate can detrimentally affect adhesion between coats-- stearate contains fat. Slainte.