Furniture ?'s - oil finish and hardware

[wawa]

I bought a dresser off CL for the baby room to serve as dresser and changing table.

It's older.  Oak.  And I'm 99% sure that it was oil finished at some point. It's definitely not naked wood, but it doesn't appear to have any sort of varnish on it.  But it's pretty dry and seems to need a recoat.  Looks like this:

Attachment Deleted

So...ummm...now what?  

From my interneting around I'm seeing a lot of options.  It seems that I should give it a VERY light sanding with a super fine grit (like...barely sand.  A suggestion of a sanding), wipe it down (maybe with mineral spirits?? maybe just with a tack cloth) and then wipe on a layer of some sort of oil (possibly cut with something else?  Possibly not?) and then buff that with the grain.  And then let it sit, occasionally wiping if the surface looks oily after several hours.  

So...ummm...clean it with, what?  And which kind of oil (tung, linseed, danish?) and do I cut the oil with anything??

And would you change out that hardware or keep it as is?  

[wawa]

Oh, and while I'm at it - long shot - you can see that it has keyholes on all the drawers. It did not come with a key. Do my older furniture experts know if there any way to get my paws on one that would work? It'd be kinda nice to be able to lock the bottom drawers once this kid is mobile and old enough to play alone in her room. she doesn't need to be playing with her clean clothes.

[Deleted]

DH may know the answer to your oil questions; I will ask tonight. We also have a great finishing book that might have some answers, if you don't get anything better before this evening.

We were able to take our interior mortise locks to a salvage yard and dig through 1 billion old keys until we found some that fit so that our bed/bathrooms now have locks. Perhaps you could do the same with drawers if you have any good yards? Either that, or a really old locksmith might be able to help. If he can't get you keys to fit, he might be able to get you some new guts with a matching key?

[FoxInFiji]

Oh that's a nice find! I read up about oil finishes when I was looking into every option to site finish our floors with. I'm not 100% sure that floors translated to furniture but they are both wood right? Do you want to keep the oil finish or update it to a more durable varnish or poly finish?

Oil finishes are actually fairly forgiving to being refinished so don't be too worried there. I would start with a light sanding. You want to get to bare wood I believe so the new oil (or other) finish will absorb evenly. A fine grit like 180-320 would give you the best finish. Wipe with a tack cloth or mineral spirits on a lint free rag (I prefer tack clothes myself because you don't have to let the piece dry). Then put the new oil on with a rag. If you want to use varnish or poly use a small lambswool applicator or natural fiber brush.

[wawa]

I definitely want to stick with the oil finish. Obviously I have no idea what kind of oil was on it previously. It doesn't matter, right? Any pros and cons to the different sorts of oil?

Good idea on the salvage yards juno. we do have several in reasonable distance. Maybe I'll make an exciting day of it during my maternity leave. That'll be a fun outing with baby, right.

[sierramist03]

I'd try some oil English if you are wanting to just shine it up. Old English comes in different colors from light to dark. I use it on our oak table about once a month. It helps protect it and keeps it looking nice.

[Deleted]

We have a friend who oils all his CL Danish MCM furniture refinishing projects for his house. It's a different look. Not shiny at all; more soft glow, and you can really feel the wood. It also brings out the color in a different way.

[wawa]

Jan 16, 2013 15:50:37 GMT -5 @juno said:

We have a friend who oils all his CL Danish MCM furniture refinishing projects for his house. It's a different look. Not shiny at all; more soft glow, and you can really feel the wood. It also brings out the color in a different way.

Yup, pretty much this.  I like that the wood feels like natural wood, not poly'd wood.  It's a warmer, more natural feel to me.  And I know that I'll never have to deal with stripping anything in the future if I stick with oil.  It'll just take a new coat and keep on truckin'.  

[wawa]

Jan 16, 2013 15:44:18 GMT -5 @callmefia said:

As far as the locks go... I have an old credenza in my work office with locking drawers. The floor is uneven so the drawers fall open without locking. So we didn't find this out until we moved it into my office and it is freaking solid. So I looked for any manufactured marks and looked it up. The way I found a key is the lock mechanism had a tiny engraved number. I googled and googled until I found a key.
So I might start there before trying tons of keys. If there is any sort of identifier, someone might have a key. I can't remember the service I used but it was basically a locksmith that specialized in office furniture keys. Lol

Thanks for the tips on the locks! 

And...ok, I know you said yesterday to look at your avatar because you were going to change your name.  But now I can't remember who said it.  So I can't remember who this is.   :-(

[magdala]

With every "new-to-me" piece of furniture, I clean it with Formy's furniture soap. For those that are not varnished, I rub down with lemon furniture oil. These can be picked up at Walmart or Target.

But why would you want an oil finish over a poly? Wouldn't poly make it more durable and easy to clean? Plus less maintenance? Poly is more durable and easier to clean but an oil finish is a richer look and truer to the antique nature of the piece.

[pitterwoo]

I have only used mineral oil, so that's the only method I can speak to. It's odorless, colorless, but does bring out depth in the wood. I just got some a couple weeks ago and was really impressed with it. I've heard great things about tung oil, but haven't tried it yet. I think it is darker colored.

The only downside to mineral oil for me was going to the drugstore and having to go get it from the laxative aisle.

[Deleted]

OK, here's what my book says for "pure oil finishes":

On oil finishes generally: it says it's best to apply in thin coats so that it dries properly (particularly in cold weather). Tung oil can turn white if applied too thickly. Linseed oil will eventually yellow, which will show up on light woods. Tung oil yellows less.

Later, in the application section: it says before applying the first coat of oil, warm to 150 in a double boiler for faster penetration. If you use pure tung oil, you can mix it one-to-one with mineral spirits to make it dry faster (pre-heating not necessary with this method). Flood the first coat liberally, replenishing any dry spots. Allow to sit for 15 to 30 mins. and remove with rag. Let dry overnight. Apply second coat (unheated) like the first, but use a 600-grit wet/dry sandpaper to wet-sand the second coat into the wood, creating a slurry of oil and sanding dust (will make surface smoother and help fill the pores). Wipe with rag, leave thin film of oil. Apply as many extra coats as you want; each will increase the luster. You can wax after you're finished or burnish with clean, dry rag.

Thos seem a little different to me (thin coats vs. flooding liberally); can't explain it.

Comments it has on oils:
Raw linseed/tung: The only comment it has between true oils is that raw linseed oil is no longer favored because it takes forever to dry. I glean from this section that raw oils aren't that commonly used at all.
Boiled/polymerized linseed/tung: boiled linseed oil dries faster than raw. Polymerized tung oil (as opposed to raw) is usually thicker than raw and needs thinner.

It has a whole separate section on oil/varnish blends (Danish oil) if you're interested in that.

DH has a few comments:
Real tung oil is expensive. Lots of things that are labeled tung oil aren't. It has to specifically say something about "pure" tung oil.

[wawa]

Thanks for the info juno! I'll have to peruse my options at the store.