Reclaimed vintage white pine -- finishing suggestions

[Ken Cohen]

Hi--

I am building a hanging plate rack out of 125 year old white pine floor boards salvaged from my attic.

I find myself very concerned about finish selection as I start to mill the boards (partially surfaced boards in pix below). Using Watco Natural for testing purposes, I have found that the appearance varies considerably with how much of the patina I must remove to true out the boards. My preference is for a slightly darker, somewhat golden finish that comes from just removing the grime layer and exposing fresh wood (a few light handplane passes). Problem is that this light depth of cut fails to flatten the boards. The deeper cut necessary to true out the boards exposes a nice, but significantly lighter shade. (In either case, I am leaving the defects, square nail holes, etc. that finish much darker and add lots of character)

I am looking for finishing suggestions that will allow me to achieve a slightly darker, golden shade that retains the wonderful character of the old wood while allowing me to joint/surface below the grime layer. (And, a solution somewhat evens out differences between the boards would be a great plus).

Thanks for the suggestions.

Ken

[Scott Holmes]

Boy, I sure wouldn't put poly on these beauties.

Amber or garnet shellac would be my choice. Poly is for floors; no one will be walking on these any more, right?

[Ken Cohen]

Scott-

Thanks for the response. I should clarify that I have no interest in a poly finish. I'm looking for something much more subtle and natural.

Thx

[Scott Holmes]

A light coat of shellac will be subtle.

[Neal Clayton]

i agree, with the highly absorbent nature of pine (especially old thirsty pine) you're fairly limited in what will work.

imo, take a scrap piece, experiment with various colors until you find what you like. amber will wind up a light brown, garnet a darker brownish red, clear will be just slightly yellow.

if you do opt for a darker shellac, i would pre-seal it with clear or blonde first. as thirsty as old pine boards are, it can get very dark very fast without a sealer to prevent that, perhaps more dark than you want.

fwiw, this is what garnet looks like over yellow pine after a couple/three coats. the sapwood areas in this floor should be similar to what you'll wind up with on the white pine.

the schedule on this floor/trim was oil to darken the grain a bit, clear shellac (just to give a little 'bite' for the brush, runs are a problem on a slick oil finish with these vertical surfaces), garnet until satisfied with the color, then top coat. the trim is the sheen of shellac out of the can, it doesn't have the satin coat on top yet, the floor does have a satin varnish on top.

one tip if you go with amber/garnet...

waterlox is very similar in color to amber and garnet due to its tung oil base. so it makes a perfect top coat for amber/garnet shellac if you want something a bit tougher than the shellac itself. you wind up with a very traditional, dulled shellac look with the shellac between coats of waterlox, without the delicacy of the shellac itself.

http://xayd.nbfl.net/CIMG0202.JPG

[Jim Becker]

I just went through this exercise with some replacement white pine flooring. Firstly, don't mill the wood with your jointer and planer....sanding it will do the least amount of damage to the patina with a drum sander being preferred. (I had to use my Festool Rotex because I sold my drum sander awhile back due to disuse and space considerations) Once you have the surface smooth, BLO and then shellac is going to help you get to a nice color. Frankly, the shellac is likely a great and classic finish for this, but if you want to add more, go with a non-poly oil based varnish if brushing or shoot a water borne like Target EM2000 water borne alkyd if spraying.

[Ken Cohen]

Jim --

I appreciate your suggestion -- and from my test samples agree that it's the best finishing option.

My problem is that the boards are slightly cupped (~1/16-1/8 over 6 inches). While my joinery skills are improving, I'm not sure I can pull of the desired handcut dovetails without true stock.

At the moment, I have only partially planed/surfaces the boards so that the ends are true. One possible thought was to cut the joints at this point, and then sand low spots (currently untouched by surfacing) as you suggested. However, I'm not exactly sure how that would look.

I'd welcome any additional thoughts/ideas.

THanks.

Ken

BTW: you floor looks great -- and I bought some Zinser Amber shellac today to experiment. WIth a hanging dish rack, I'm not very concerned about wear and tear.

[Scott Holmes]

Hi Neal,

Actually the Waterlox is darker amber because of the phenolic resin used to make the varnish. Tung oil is lighter in color than linseed oil. Behlens Rock Hard is darker than Waterlox because it is phenolic resin/linseed oil varnish.

[Ken Cohen]

Hi

Following everyone's helpful suggestions, I experimented last night with Zinser amber shellac on vintage white pine for a hanging plate rack. See pix below.

Three wood samples: (L to R)

1. Lightly machine planed: trues board, retains some top patina
2. Heavily machine planed: extreme test on patina loss
3. Lightly hand planed: retains much of the patina, but bowed boards.

Two Finishing Approaches (220 final sand, brushed, quick and dirty)

1. Lighter: 2 x 50/50 mix with alcohol; 1 full coat
2. Darker: 2x 50/59 mix; 3 full coats.

I am very pleased with the direction this is taking, but wouldn't mind still improving it. I like the right/darker sample the best, but can live with the other two. Biggest issue is the distinct orange cast imparted by the amber shellac (even in the lighter shade). Ideally, would prefer something slightly less orangey, a bit warmer, honey like.

Couple of questions:

1. Finishing approach: Have I got it right? Maybe one thinned coat rather than 2? Start with clear??

2. Less orange: How? Different shellac (garnet?); Mix of shellacs? Tint (though I read you would need to spray -- a non-starter for me)

And, of course, I welcome other suggestions.

Thanks to all for this great help. I'm new to shellac, have read Flexner -- but your experience makes all the difference.

Ken

[Scott Holmes]

Garnet is definetly not orange. I would use the garnet.