Varnish oak?

[mandyp]

We have had oak doors, skirting and door surrounds put in. We'd really like to bring up the grain of the oak and have already varnished a little bit with a matt varnish.

Although the grain looks great, as does the colour, it doesn't feel nice and smooth anymore.

I can live with this, as it looks lovely, but wondered if there is anyway to keep it smooth.

Unfortunately we couldn't afford to get oak through the entire house and have had to get pine for the upstairs. Can anyone recommend a stain that will give us a pretty close to oak look?

Thanks!

 

[big-all]

replicating the oak colour is unlikely to be sucsesfill
at best the colour may be close but the grain is so diffirent

i take it you either washed down the oak or used water based
[accrylic] varnish thus raising the grain
rub down after the first coat with very fine glass paper

big all

 

[masona]

Can anyone recommend a stain that will give us a pretty close to oak look?

Liberon do a Fine Paste Wax 500ml (Dark Oak, Medium Oak or Tudor Oak)
See here the link breezer gave me and I have use the Tung oil product on the exterior bay windows.

Best to give them a ring, you may have to dye the wood first but I don't know.

 

[mandyp]

Thanks for the advice!

 

[IanDB]

Purely personal choice and experience but I would always use 000 grade wire wool to smooth down and bring out the grain on wood. I find that even fine glass paper is too rough and tends to scratch. Advantage of using steel wool is that you get a really nice finish - disadvantage is that you can get a steel dust and metal splinters that need to be cleaned up carefully.

Also, pine will mellow and darken with age (in particular, light) so expect some change in colour over time.

Good luck

 

[coggy]

For bringing out the grain and giving a great finish i recommend Danish oil.

Dilute the first coat 50/50 with white spirits because its hardwood and then 80/20 for the second coat and then the third coat neat.

Brush it on and then with a lint free cloth after about 10mins wipe and give it a good run so there are no drips, wet patches.

Really easy and looks great

Hope this helps

Coggy

 

[kevplumb]

ian ever tryed green washing up pads
i use them to clean copper and keep the debris out of the system

 

[Jasonb]

DON'T use wire wool on anything especially oak if you are going to use a waterbased finish, small amounts of the wire will have been cought in the grain and these will oxidize on contact with the water and turn the give you small black patches on the oak.

Do a Kev says use Scotchbrite pads which are like pot scourers but come in different grades.

Jason