On a roll

Yesterday I started another job. A dining table we had bought in 1974 has taken 35 years of being used for everything from dining to horse-building. Hilary grew up using this table for literally thousands of drawings and who knows how many hours of sculpting of equine likenesses. Spills, dings, scrapings and washings with hundreds of dishrags and only a few refinishings with oil and/or wax left a patina of life’s traces. In other words, it was beat.

With my newfound ability to actually do the right thing regarding oil finishing of wood, I took on the challenge of returning this poor little Danish creation to better-than-new condition. By doing some Internet research, I finally discovered the secret to oil finishes. And that secret has nothing to do with the instructions that come on the can of tung oil. The can’s instructions don’t go past two applications. The real instructions involve as many as six or more, with gentle sanding with the finest sandpaper or steel wool between each application. The results will be better than any other finishing technique. More later.…