Refinishing an Ercol table top

[Leatherhead]

Can you give me some advise re polishing an Ercol table top. I have used Nitromors and then sanded the top to a good condition. I have applied two coats of Danish oil and on part of the table I am getting a blotchy finish rather like bleached spots. Could it be because it is cold? I have used Danish oil quite a bit and this is the first time I have had this problem. Any ideas would be gratefully appreciated.

 

[Beau]

First thoughts are that you have not removed enough of the old finish. Re did the in laws Ercol table by just sanding thoroughly and Liberon finishing oil. The original finish did penetrate quite deep and needed a fair bit of sanding to remove but the table came up as new to the delight of the in laws who were very dubious about me working on it.

 

[JJ1]

I re-finished an Ercol coffee table a while back and I also noticed the bleached spots you mention. I was quite concerned about them at the time. It definitely wasn't anything to do with the cold as I did mine back in the summer. It wasn't to do with the old finish (in my case) because I actually planed a good millimeter off of the top to remove some surface defects and thoroughly sanded through the grits ending with 240 grit.
I finished using two or three coats of (new + fresh) Rustin's Danish Oil. I thought it came out very nicely and the oil gave a beautiful warm and silky finish.
I stand to be corrected, but I now suspect the 'patchiness' is just a characteristic of the wood. It'd be great if someone with more finishing experience could confirm this.

I've enclosed a photo to show the 'patchiness' in colour. Is this similar to the issue you mention?

 

[custard]

I've enclosed a photo to show the 'patchiness' in colour. Is this similar to the issue you mention?

The only "patchiness I can see in your photo is definitely a characteristic of the timber. Incidentally, Ercol had (and still have) a very strong reputation in the trade for superb timber buying, they put very knowledgeable and experienced staff at all key points in the supply chain to ensure they're getting the very best timbers available. By the way, the "Atomic" pattern legs on your piece is a particularly desirable feature of vintage Ercol, although personally I've always had a mild preference for the square tapered legs as on Beau's piece.

Another thing to note, the gentle moulding to the upper surface on Beau's table top was considered unbelievably radical when it first came out on dining tables, now it's seen for what it is, a supremely comfortable innovation for resting your forearms on the table during a meal and an iconic stylistic flourish.

 

[JJ1]

The only "patchiness I can see in your photo is definitely a characteristic of the timber. Incidentally, Ercol had (and still have) a very strong reputation in the trade for superb timber buying, they put very knowledgeable and experienced staff at all key points in the supply chain to ensure they're getting the very best timbers available. By the way, the "Atomic" pattern legs on your piece is a particularly desirable feature of vintage Ercol, although personally I've always had a mild preference for the square tapered legs as on Beau's piece.

Thanks very much for the excellent and interesting info

 

[Sgian Dubh]

I think custard has a good point. I strongly suspect if you viewed the table from the other direction, what now appears dark would appear light, and what now looks light would look dark. If I'm right, and I may not be, it's a function of the way the alternating end grain faces up or down as it intersects the surface. Dark areas are where you're looking primarily into the open pores of the vascular tissue, and light areas are where you're looking at the longer side walls of that vascular tissue. It's a bit like looking at the fur of a cat from either the tail end (dark and perhaps a bit stubbly) or the head end (smooth and glossy). Slainte.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I made a rather lovely lectern in elm some years ago that finished horribly blotchy, unfortunately the base and the body were turned then cut on angles so couldn't be remounted. I always put it down to uneven absorption of sanding sealer then maybe consequentially different absorption of the finish coat. It might be tosh of course, but I no longer use s/s unless absolutely necessary.

 

[Matt@]

I suspect this is could be due to the grain being rough in places similar to a tear. Sometimes with some timbers, you can brush on a coat say of shellac sealer and even though the surface is prepped dead smooth these rough areas will appear when the finish dries out. To fix this, the finish needs rubbing down (inc very well over the rough bits) and re coating. Everytime you re coat you lessen the rough areas. I think these could manifest as white looking marks sometimes.

 

[Leatherhead]

Many thanks for you replies, I think I am going to rub it down again and make sure as possible that I have all the old polish removed, and will then build up a topcoat.

 

[Beau]

Good luck.

If the blotchiness is being caused by the character of the wood and you view it as undesirable Osmo will show this up much less. Popped by a place today selling reconditioned Ercol furniture. All done with Osmo (presume matt) and the contrast in the grain was greatly reduced in comparison with an oil finish. For me the oil wins hands down as I like the contrast but this will undoubtedly fade in time.