New Zealand Kauri finish

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Hookah

7 posts

Wannabe Geek

#240273 30-Aug-2018 09:57

Hi there, I am looking to restore some damaged Kauri furniture, it has a deep honey colour with little or no sheen to it. I need to sand it first, but unsure of what product to use to finish it with to match the dullness of the existing finish ?

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6614 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#2081253 30-Aug-2018 10:37

Is this swamp Kauri? Heart wood or sap wood?

I would use an oil or stain personally.

I can ask my father who has worked with tonnes of kauri over the years in boat building and his own furniture making (he inherited a few tonnes of it from family, You can also blame my name sake for why we have no Kauri left in NZ as my direct family is responsible for most of northlands milling.) Them and the Burgman brothers.

Photos, photos, photos.

nickb800

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#2081291 30-Aug-2018 11:26

Little or no sheen could mean that it was oiled rather than varnished. Can you try linseed or danish oil on the underside of the furniture to test first?

scuwp

3885 posts

Uber Geek

#2081307 30-Aug-2018 12:10

I suspect danish oil, but photos would help.

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Hookah

7 posts

Wannabe Geek

#2081335 30-Aug-2018 12:52

Not having any success with posting photos yet

Hookah

7 posts

Wannabe Geek

#2081337 30-Aug-2018 12:56

Do you have a minimum number of posts before you can post pictures ?

Hookah

7 posts

Wannabe Geek

#2081341 30-Aug-2018 13:00

I have thought about Danish oil but it does develop a sheen as you apply more coats

Hookah

7 posts

Wannabe Geek

#2081345 30-Aug-2018 13:03

Has anyone tried Rubio monocoat ?

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mdf

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#2081373 30-Aug-2018 14:00

As above, oil would probably be the most likely candidate using a wipe on wipe off method. Wax is another candidate; shine will depend on application technique.

Depending on how old it is, it might even be faded shellac.

Coil

6614 posts

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#2081415 30-Aug-2018 14:55

I obtained a photo!

With OP's permission I can post it up.
Also to help OP please use http://www.imgur.com and upload the images, Just drop us the link given to you here and we can look into it.
It appears to be a resin based varnish and it has sealed the wood, So hard to tell as I am not in the rooms natural light.

Disrespective

1926 posts

Uber Geek

#2081433 30-Aug-2018 15:21

I'd look at OSMO or WOCA furniture oils. If you're sanding it back then an oil is ideal. WOCA are fully natural products from memory and oils in general are much easier to spot fix if you ever have an issue. Be aware that they don't all act the same though when in contact with water (eg the bottom of cold glasses) so do your research.

neb

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#2081731 31-Aug-2018 05:26

Hookah:
I have thought about Danish oil but it does develop a sheen as you apply more coats

Danish oil is just a mixture of BLO (boiled linseed oil), polyurethane varnish (technically an alkyd base modified with polyurethane resin, a uralkyd), and turps, so as you apply more of it you're effectively applying more varnish. What you can do if you want a non-gloss finish is to use a flatting agent in the varnish, or just buy a varnish with one already present. Non-gloss finishes use flatting agents, typically silica, which reduce gloss by partially absorbing and scattering light. As the varnish dries it shrinks slightly, so the sand-like silica makes the surface unsmooth, equivalent to scrubbing it with steel wool.

The flatting agent is cumulative, each layer reduces transparency. What you could to is start with a few coats of gloss as a sealer coat, then finish with one or two coats with flatting agent to avoid accumulating too much flatting agent in the layers of finish (stir thoroughly before applying to disperse the flatting agent throughout the varnish). I start with BLO thinned with turps or even shellite (a.k.a. penetrol, at ten times the price) to get maximum penetration into the wood, then straight BLO, then thinned polyurethane varnish (same reason), and then straight poly varnish, unless it's fine-quality work when I never use straight varnish which will end up giving the surface a plasticky appearance. This is what Danish oil approximates, but only ever approximates, there's too much varnish when you mostly want oil for penetration/sealing, and too much oil when you mostly want varnish as a sealer and protectant.

With any of the wax/oil/whatever finishes, these provide a nice appearance but no protection, so what you use depends on how the surface will be treated in the future.

(This is a very, very abbreviated form of what could be an extremely long post given the chance. It already tripled in size as I went).

Hookah

7 posts

Wannabe Geek

#2081765 31-Aug-2018 08:14

https://imgur.com/a/Fp7mOyA

Here is a photo, hopefully it can be viewed.

Hookah

7 posts

Wannabe Geek

#2081785 31-Aug-2018 09:39

Ignore the link above, this should work

https://imgur.com/a/LzPqDG3

mdf

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#2081794 31-Aug-2018 09:52

Looks like a flat varnish to me. Have a look at Resene's aquaclear range. You can test by sanding back the underside of the draw dividers/supports and painting a test spot. Even if it doesn't look right you can sand it off and no-one will be the wiser.

neb

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#2082177 1-Sep-2018 02:56

mdf:
Looks like a flat varnish to me. Have a look at Resene's aquaclear range. You can test by sanding back the underside of the draw dividers/supports and painting a test spot. Even if it doesn't look right you can sand it off and no-one will be the wiser.

I'm not a big fan of waterborne urethanes, you're trading off a lot of the nice features of solvent-based urethane in exchange for the "convenience" of water. I've never found it worthwhile, the only reason you'd ever want to use it is if you're doing the floor of a room and don't want to be smelling solvents for several days.

In terms of polyurethane varnishes, I like the finish that Norski ones give. Their stuff can be a bit more expensive than other brands, but you'll occasionally find them marked down. About six months ago Bunnings was dumping their Norski stuff in smaller tins (250 and 500ml) and selling them for a song, I bought about 2L of the stuff in small tins.

Just remember in your case to thin it down so you don't apply a thick coat with the risk of it looking plasticky. This also makes it much easier to get a nice flat coat without visible brush strokes. One thing I'd recommend in that case is using a (cheap) foam brush, which will apply it without brush strokes. If you've never used this type of varnish before, do a dry run on some scrap timber to see where the problems will be, e.g. trying to redo an area that's had the varnish sitting for more than a few minutes is going to make a mess.

Another thing to consider is whether what you're finishing will be exposed to direct sunlight. In that case you'll need to go with so-called marine-grade varnish, which has nothing much to do with marine use but has extra additives to improve UV endurance.

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