Pine Tables - Wax or Varnish?

[Turbo]

I bought this nest of pine tables last week.

I'm guessing they came from a closed down factory as the wood hasn't had its final sanding and there is no finish on the wood.
Plan is to sand them smooth then apply a finish but I'm not sure what to use.

I have these at my disposal plus some gloss polyurethane varnish. The hard wax oil is for floors and leaves a tough but dull finish.
I also have beeswax, linseed oil & turpentine so I could make up my own furniture wax. The tables will be in regular use so I'm not sure if this would be durable enough.

What would you folks advise?

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I use home made M/C wax, carnauba and a mix of both - but I wouldn't use any of them on their own for anything that is to have much use or handling. Poly might be best, hardwax might look better.
That's a Lidl hardwax, isn't it? Is it any good?

 

[Beau]

Varnish without a doubt. Oil based poly looks good on pine IMO but that yacht varnish might be fine. Used yacht varnish on some dining tables many years back and got to see them recently and not a mark but I dont know how careful the client is with them. Re finished the in-laws pine table with oil based poly and it's held up very well on a heavily used table. Doesn't stop the wood denting though haha

Alternatively a scrubbed finish looks if you like the farmhouse look. Only seen this on older close grained pine so not sure how well it works on the more open grained wood you generally see these days.

 

[ED65]

The Baufix hard wax oil isn't just wax of course but in general wax by itself doesn't provide much protection, but as these are side tables maybe they won't need much? Up to you and how you'll use them.

I'd use varnish myself. The pieces don't have to look varnished, thinned and wiped on even the much-maligned polyurethane can make wood look great (and I challenge anyone, anyone, to be able to tell that was the finish used).

Since I exclusively use gloss varnishes you can end up with a pretty decent sheen even wiping it on thinly, but if you end up with a bit more shine than you like that can be knocked back with ease.

 

[ED65]

I also have beeswax, linseed oil & turpentine so I could make up my own furniture wax.

I'd suggest not including any oil. Oil & wax blends are sort of a case that you get the worst of both worlds.

Since you have turps use it if you enjoy the smell, but white spirit is cheaper, will work just as well and there's no detriment to the final product.

If you want to make up your own wax (dead easy, highly recommend everyone try it at least once) it's worth getting some carnauba or another hard wax to harden it up, this reduces fingerprinting and improves wear resistance. See this thread from last year for some recipes.

 

[custard]

Whatever finish you use do yourself a favour and take the tops off before applying it. The job will go twice as fast and look twice as good.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Yeah .......... you won't be able to the brush or cloth into the tins if the tops are still on. :lol:

 

[Harbo]

A few coats of dilute pu varnish - wipe on leave for 20mins then wipe off excess. Repeat over a few days.

Can finish with a wax if required.

Rod

 

[Turbo]

Thanks for the replies, a good mix of opinions. =D>

The 'Hard Wax Oil' is from Lidl & I've only use it on the wooden handles of hammers I've restored. It is easy to apply & it leaves a nice grippy finish on the wood (I didn't sand down the wood after oiling) but it's also easy to clean - my hammers often get grease on them as I work at cars too!

I think its a mixture of varnish & oil - it's sticky like varnish but thin & smells of linseed oil.

The plan after dinner tonight was to brew up some home made wax & try some out on some scrap wood but I got a bit distracted.

First of all I spotted some apple turnovers in the kitchen so a brew was needed.

Then I noticed that my feet were sore because I was wearing my spare boots, my good boots had been cleaned but needed dubbin put on.

Didn't realise how bad they were until I had 1 boot done!

Eventually I got the gear out & started up my polish brew.

I melted 50g of beeswax pellets, added 50g of boiled linseed oil, 25g of pure turpentine & 25g of white spirit. The white spirit is cheaper than turps but the 50% turps will hide the smell of the WS (I hope).
Once the mixture cooled it looked a bit too soft, I'll leave it overnight to see if it sets. The recipe I saw called for 50ml of the liquids which is less than 50g so I might have to add more wax to thicken the mix. :?

Danish oil has been suggested but I haven't got any but I have 2 tins of Teak oil but I don't think it's suitable for light coloured woods like pine. :?

 

[Phil Pascoe]

You have a PM.

 

[ED65]

Once the mixture cooled it looked a bit too soft, I'll leave it overnight to see if it sets. The recipe I saw called for 50ml of the liquids which is less than 50g so I might have to add more wax to thicken the mix. :?

Yes once you introduce oil the set consistency can matter, since a higher oil content means it'll be softer at room temperature.

With normal paste waxes the softness doesn't matter per se, they're different to apply and buff out but after application all that's left on the surface is the hardened wax. So you can make the mixture as slack or as stiff as suits your preferred application routine; some like their paste was around the softness of room-temperature butter so they can apply it generously, others prefer something much harder so that very little is applied each time a cloth is charged with polish.

Danish oil has been suggested but I haven't got any...

Have BLO and varnish? Mix the two together 1:1 and dilute somewhat and that's your typical Danish oil recipe (usual guideline recipe is equal parts BLO, interior varnish and white spirit but you can dilute more or less according to taste).

Commercial Danish oils vary quite a bit and, with the higher oil content of spar varnishes just heavily diluting that might make something very like some versions.

...I have 2 tins of Teak oil but I don't think it's suitable for light coloured woods like pine. :?

Try it and see is probably the best idea. Very little is left in/on the wood with wipe on/wipe off products like this so the dark colour in the container may not translate to the wood darkening all that much.

 

[Turbo]

I bought some blackfriars Danish oil today (it's not cheap!) and I plan to do some tests using all the finishes I have to see what I like the best.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

If you want a really fine finish using Danish, make sure when you give it its final sanding it is dry - that is properly dry, not touch dry. The same can be said for many other polishes and varnishes as well, mind. This time of the year it doesn't hurt to leave it for a couple of weeks.