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]

@Former Workshop member Is this the Bondall you are talking about?

 

[Former Workshop member]

@jgsa1967 

yep, that's the one... I tooled around my local bunnings, swearing under my breath cuz there was no tung oil - couldn't find a shelf ticket, even. Apparently there was no stock when I checked the site later. Anyway, after much more 'rhubarb-rhubarb' muttering on my part, I settled for this to use on the potting table. We won't go into the manufacturer finish on the table - RHUBARB! However, the bondall worked really well. I wouldn't put it on a table I eat from, (linseed only), however it's been awesome on what I have put it on.
Artist's oils can sometimes be found in newsagents, but your best bet is places like spotlight and lincraft - pretty much any hobby or craft store. Get something like Derivan Matisse, or Windsor Newton - don't go cheap chinese made or it's liable to be toxic and not lightfast.. To get that reddish shellac colour, you want a colour called Permanent Alizarin Crimson. You can modify it with a touch of blue if you want to tend more purplish, use an ultramarine blue or quinacridone violet to modify. Do not use any scarlet, yellows, or anything that says cadmium or lead. These may contain toxic substances - not all are labelled. The ones I've given you are fine. Sorry, it's hard to distil 15 years worth of pigment knowledge, hahahalol. The ones I've suggested are lightfast  - by the way, don't get Alizarin Crimson, it fades - you def want PERMANENT Alizarin Crimson, lol.
Art shops sometimes have great specials. I switched to work in acrylics many years ago, myself, so I haven't paid very close attention to prices.

[Former Workshop member]

@jgsa1967
By the way...
If your stain was water based, you can add the same colours in acrylic paint to your stain and go over again before oiling - another option.

[Former Workshop member]

@jgsa1967
Have you decided what to do yet?
Funnily enough I have had to do just this over the weekend - with some differences.

I found out I was hosting a small party week after next - we won't go into what I thought of that, and how it came about - the main point is I needed some extra seating, quickly. It was sort of good, because we wanted another bench in future, anyway, etc etc.

So I bought this cheap outdoor bench from kmart, because I loved the vaguely Asian minimalist shape it had.

So the colour was wrong, seeing as I have modded ikea stools that I put fabric on etc for side tables outdoors. I have plenty of fabric left for making cushions etc etc.

So instead of buying paint, I mixed some red oxide concrete colour with the bondall furniture oil and some boiled linseed oil... now I just have to apply a few successive coats of bondall to get a nice hard finish. but even with the paint coats, the colour isn't coming off.

Red oxide gives Indian Red colour, which absorbs uv a lot by itself, that's why it was used a lot for barns.

Anyway, point being that this will be great if I coat it once or twice a year with the furniture oil again. Just shows what you can do when you play around. I had some wood sculptures that were treated this way - lasted for years before needing repainting.

[jgsa1967]

 

 

 

 @Former Workshop member Finally I have a few moments to het on here and update.  

Your bench looks great, I love the colour!

Well, I followed your advice and got some oil paint, had already bought Monte Marte brand, so am hoping it will be fine.  I chose Phtalos Blue, which is a navy and Rose Madder, being a lovely fark but subdued red.  Have applied three coats of the tints, linseed and turps, first with a goat brush and wipe off, second I applied with steel wool and wipe off and lastly a thin goat brush layer and wipe off again.  As you will see in the photos, the oil is still drying/curing and quite patchy, so I'll allowing it to settle for a few days before I apply my (hopefully) last.  The tint looked so dark in the jar when mixed up, but of course only slightly changed the tone, I'd still like it a bit darker and thinking of using more of the blue oil paint in my last coat, but am being conservative.  You will be able to see that I had to repair the front right side of the seat where it sits/attaches to the side, it was badly damaged and no amount of glue was going to hold it, it doesn't phase me tho, I don't really notice it and thought when I get a couple of cushions on there, it won't be an issue.  I absolutely love the feel of it, I'm so glad I went down this road, I e never used linseed oil before and I'm amazed at how, even tho I had applied a stain, the character of the wood was brought out, it's beautiful, can't really see in these photos tho.  Well, like I said, I'm allowing her to sit for a few days, maybe even a little longer, I'm in no hurry, I have ended up with a gorgeous price of art that was going to be sent to the tip, and I feel very accomplished! LOL. 

I will post further updates on her when they are available  LOL 

[jgsa1967]

Grrrr APOLOGIES for all the typos, that was the second attempt of posting, mobile phones aren't too blog friendly when you're writing an essay!

[Former Workshop member]

Hi @jgsa1967,
That looks great! Monte Marte is fine - they're an Aussie brand. I can't answer to the Rose Madder being colourfast though. It's usually one that fades quickly, unless it's the synthetic version, an even that can be iffy. Is there a colourfast rating on the tube? From memory, I think there is with that brand. I'm pretty sure phtalo blue is colourfast, but it's quite transparent - great for stains.

It's looking good! Hope it goes well

Yeah - linseed is a dream... and you never get flaking and 'paint failure' like with the modern stuff.. You just have a much more limited colour palette.

Epoxy works well for repairs, but I wouldn't do it if she's an antique.

Thanks, re the bench - we've had some adverse weather here, so I'm glad I got it done in time. I've been going mad with shades of red out there...

I sprayed this tatty old plaster statue just yesterday - just holds enough mix to hold a tiny Joseph's coat cactus and an equally small peanut cactus... looking very 'kitsch' now, lol.