Advice for total to-do of Asian style hand carved Day Bed

[jgsa1967]

Hoping for some advice from some of you seasoned timber furniture re-furbers. 

I was gifted a day bed in bad condition, had been left outdoors, under partial cover for 10+ years. I have just sanded back all (almost all surfaces except tiny spaces I can't get into) acid washed it and now wanting to repair some.damage and re-finish it  I was thinking of staining, shellacing and then waxing it (never done it before, but it sounds like fun!) Thing is, the timber is very thirsty in my opinion and really needs some love in that department.  Should I "feed" the timber with something (if so what?) AT ALL or just carry out the stain, shellac and wax?  If feeding, should it be done before or after I stain?  I have already purchased my stain, shellac and wax, so really have my heart set on giving it a go. 

The pics are taken this arvo after I acid washed and rinsed off, so it's still wet, I totally forgot to take a true BEFORE picture, many blonde moments here LOL

 

 

[jgsa1967]

This is the link to the finish I described above. Brad pointed me to this guys website and it was all really interesting.
https://thecraftsmanblog.com/how-to-make-your-own-wood-finish/

[jgsa1967]

Now I'm totally confused after reading about the home made finish. Mineral Oil or Paint Thinner? Obviously we don't have mineral oil in Australia (funny that I thought I'd actually seen it on a shelf) but Thinner? What sort of Thinner, are they all the same composition? After reading further, they aren't. OMG this is getting harder. 🤷‍♀️

[Former Workshop member]

@jgsa1967 

We do have mineral oil in Australia... and it's what baby oil is, but baby oil has added fragrances. You should be able to find it. It's often labelled as machine oil - you put it in your sewing machine. So you definitely would have seen it around.

I thought the article called for mineral spirits, though?

Mineral spirits in the US can be mineral turpentine, or white spirits here. depending on the use called for. I'm sure some googling can sort it out.If Google doesn't work, you can always email a US company that produces their mineral spirits to find out the exact chemical makeup - or even find out from one of their MSDS info sheets. That'll help figure out which compound they're talking about

[Former Workshop member]

@jgsa1967
Sorry, just realised I skipped a couple of your posts - you wanted the reddish colour, right? I've had success with tinting linseed oil with oil paints. Just make sure the oil paint tint doesn't use cadmium or any other toxic pigment, and is lightfast. Mix into linseed oil as heavy as you like and go ahead with as many coats gets you the colour. then do several coats of just linseed or outdoor furniture oil. only question will be time, as it will take a while for these coats to dry. Very thin coats, so you don't get the tacky finish that undried linseed can have. (personally I do like the bondall outdoor furniture oil I just used, instead of tung oil on my outdoor potting table.) I'd do linseed/oil paint and then the outdoor oil. It was so easy to get it in all the crevices - very happy!
Honestly, it's worth the time, for such an excellent piece. The wipe over finishes are quick, but not my personal fave for outdoors, for several reasons.

[jgsa1967]

@Former Workshop member yes you're right, not mineral oil, I know I was flabbergasted yesterday, I didn't realise I'd made that mistake too. Thank you for taking the time to help me with this, I'm going to re-read your answers and see what I come up with........when my head is clear enough to understand LOL  Anyone would think I'd been sniffing gum turpentine!

[jgsa1967]

@Former Workshop member  Righto, just read your second answer about tinting linseed and coating, then coating with outdoor oil. Can I do this over the stain that I have already applied or do I have to sand it back?  I think I can see the timber is still thirsty,,,,,,,if that makes sense. Thanks

[Former Workshop member]

@jgsa1967 

Ah! the old turps! Been sniffing it myself today - epoxy rust guard paint. Spring maintenance - gotta love it, lol.

Yep, there's a LOT to take in... I've got more than a few years of trial and error, mostly error, under the belt, so you can't just immediately know what's best to do. I still struggle with some things, the sheer volume of info around - I hear you.

Yes, you can go over the stain,be it oil or water, just be aware of colour mix... blue and yellow make green etc. If you want a red or red/purple, it's no problem over brown. Once you put oil down, you can't go over with a water based product, though... not without difficulty.

[Former Workshop member]

@jgsa1967 

You've wetted enough already, if you used water based stain - the wood will be thirsty for oil, now. So the tinted linseed should get sucked right in and the colour too. Then you do as many coats to get the colour. Then I'd go the bondall furniture oil cuz it has uv protectors, blah blah, and will stop any possible colour transference and fading. You will get some uv fading, cuz that's the way of things, but you just go in with the furniture oil once a year, to keep that minimised. You know it's got enough coats when it feels like, say, a piece of jarrah - smooth and a bit slippy to the touch.

[Former Workshop member]

@jgsa1967
I just realised I didn't clarify - I meant oil artist's paints, just in case you were thinking oil based paints like enamels - sorry, artist's assumption on my part! lol... could have caused trouble!

[jgsa1967]

@Former Workshop member TOO funny! I was going to ask that question re the artist paint/enamel, because.........I just had the inkling and couldn't really see any decent red paint except for spray cans on the Bunnings website!

Now, to find where I can buy oil based artist paint around me. Thanks Jan-jan  🤪 <--- ME Turpentine Head!!