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Recent Bios FAQ

271928 Tom Dugan <tom_dugan@h...> 2020‑10‑14 Re: It's not finished until it's finished
I was going to recommend analine dyes, but shoe polish is a good place to start.
Just make sure you seal the grain before you start fiddling with the color!

The other issue is that the color will naturally change as it ages. You might
want to consider chemically oxidizing the wood before you seal it, and here
there are options that range from the fairly benign (e.g. vinegar & steel wool)
to the really nasty stuff (nitric acid, potassium dichromate). I haven't fiddled
with oak at all, strangely enough, but Mr. Google will get you started in that
direction. just bear in mind that different chemicals will give different
results, sometimes subtly so.

I've become a fan of watching refinishing videos in these strange times, mostly
because it's nearly literally the same as watching paint dry. Or maybe a Bob
Ross "How to Paint" TV episode. Do a Youtube search on "Thomas Johnson
refinishing" and "Lost Mountain Restorations" for 2 pretty different
personalities. If you're interested in learning the English approach to
finishing (aka "polishing"), search for "English Polisher" and "Gilboy's".
Another contrast in personalities.

Random thoughts,
-T

________________________________
From: OldTools  on behalf of Claudio DeLorenzi

Sent: Wednesday, October 14, 2020 5:11 AM
To: kevin.m.foley 
Cc: Oldtools list 
Subject: Re: [OldTools] It's not finished until it's finished

Just a reminder that shoe dye (leather dye) is alcohol based, just as
shellac is.  That means you can use the bazillion colors of shoe dye made
for the leather industry to match what you need.  If you lay down thin
layers of colored shellac, you can darken to get the right shade.

If you make a nasty mistake with the color, you can easily wipe most of the
color away by wiping with a damp alcohol cloth, so it’s somewhat
reversible.  I use Fiebing’s dye.  About one to two drops of dye per shot
glass of shellac is where to start.
Cheers
Claudio

On Tue, Oct 13, 2020 at 8:59 PM kevin.m.foley  wrote:

> Many thanks for all the replies.  It’s definitely not going to be easy as
> I’d hoped but looking at it I guess I knew that the color was trending more
> yellow than would be expected from garnet shellac.  It will take some
> experimentation and I now have many things to try.
>
> Richard mentioned "...patina, you might want to provide a bit of light
> wear and damage”.  That’s funny because on the other side of the table
> someone has gone berzerk doing just that.  It’s entirely cross-hatched in
> black.  It might be covering up graffiti,  I don’t know yet.  Getting rid
> of that will come before finishing the rest.  This table has suffered many
> fools.  I’m next in line.
>
> … and 78 records as a source of black shellac,  that’s pretty cool.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Kevin
>
> > On Oct 12, 2020, at 6:05 PM, yorkshireman@y... wrote:
> >
> > Kevin has resued an interesting old table from the slow death of
> polyurethane glue….
> >
> > I would start with some stain.
> >
> > given the difference in colour, you could use some georgian mid oak
> colour (color,Paddy) to get to a sensible background.  In the UK, I like
> the colron range, which may no longer be made, as it’s good and smelly, so
> probably bad for you.  You’ll need to use a brush, to get it into the edges
> without marking the existing parts.
> > That particular stain gets to the colour, and won’t go darker with more
> applications, it’s mixeable with others in its range, so you can do your
> own colour match.  There will be similar ones in the USA.  Don’t use a
> spirit based stain.
> >
> > Right, you’ve stained the bare wood.  I’d give a coat of 1lb blonde
> shellac to seal it. depending on how close thw colour is, my usual recourse
> is to Van Dyke stain next. It’s water based, so you can wash it off and ty
> again, and again, or, you can apply some more.  If you water it down, it’s
> lighter.  If you recoat, it gets darker, until it won’t go any further.
> You can seal it with a shellac coat to ‘freeze’ at any stage. maybe whilst
> you dabble on the last coat, which you may want to remove a bit of to give
> some patina.
> > Having mentioned patina, you might want to provide a bit of light wear
> and damage - a couple of scratches that a thin Van Dyke colour back to look
> a hundred years old.  Be subtle with that sort of thing, and think about
> how such a thing could occur.
> >
> > The final finish would be a couple of full strength blonde shellac coats.
> >
> > You may be right about the garnett.   If you use it, still begin with a
> stain - if you chip shellac, it will expose white wood, and you’ll need to
> repair it.  If you chip a shellc over stain, it goes back to the stain.
> >
> >
> > Of course, all the above is worth what you paid for it, but theres maybe
> something that would help.
> >
> >
> > Richard Wilson
> > Yorkshireman Galoot
> >
> >
> >
> >> On 12 Oct 2020, at 18:18, kevin.m.foley  wrote:
> >>
> >> Dear Galoots,
> >>
> >> Short story:  I've replaced parts and added some bracing (stretchers)
> to this old table.
> >>
> >>
> https://www.flickr.com/photos/188990335@N.../albums/72157716378029937
/with/50460373107/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/188990335@N.../albums/72157716
378029937/with/50460373107/
> >>
> >> I need some advice on how to best match the color.  The original seems
> to be garnet shellac. I don't have much experience with it.  Any advise
> would be appreciated.  I would think building thin coats to a final depth
> of color might work, or just adjust the cut using scraps to test the color
> and go for it in one coat?  Stripping the old finish has been vetoed.
> >> (snippage)
> >
>
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