SHOULD I STAIN OR DYE THIS TEAK?


stevenelkins

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Maybe it is walnut. The table is about 70 years old and I have a torn piece of paperwork from the original purchase (the table was my parents') and the word "teak" is hand written on the receipt,

 

So, Eric and TIODS - could you please elaborate on your answers? I'm a newbie and I don't want to screw this up. The original finish on the table was very dark (like ebony) and I want to recapture the original look.

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We're giving you a hard time man...we're saying don't stain it, don't dye it, don't do anything to it and leave the wood looking like wood.

 

If you're dead set on making that table black, try out a couple things on an inconspicuous area and see what you like best.

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I'm totally confused. I've been doing some online research and people seem to say that stain tends to hide the grain while dye will enhance the grain. I need help!

 

kind of... dye will show more grain than stain.  In some cases, dye will highlight figure (but not necessarily grain, which are two different things).  

 

I agree with the crowd, just be a clear finish on it and call it a day.  could be teak, it has similar grain to walnut.  

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If you want to see what a natural finish will look like you can wipe it with some mineral spirits.  I think you'll find that it is nice and beautiful without any added colors.  An oil finish may add a little yellow tint, whereas a shellac could add some other hues depending on color.  These would be more subtle than stain or dye. 

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Okay. I've decided to go with the natural finish. RichardA suggests Watco Danish Oil with a walnut tint followed by polyurethane top coats. Are there any other options for a natural finish? Could I go straight to polyurethane? Or should the wood be pretreated with something (a sealer?) before the top coats go on?

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ARS = Arm-R-Seal.  It's a wipe-on urethane made by General Finishes and fairly universally loved for its ease of application, durability and final look on most woods.

 

You may gain just a bit of additional richness starting with BLO...but you'll also gain a much longer finishing time.  BLO takes forever to dry, and you'll need to give at least a week before you can start top-coating.  But there is nothing like BLO to bring out the warmth and richness of walnut.  ARS by itself does a pretty good job, but I think BLO adds a bit more depth.  I usually skip it though.  I think Rich's walnut Watco idea would be better than BLO for a first coat if you're in a hurry...it'll dry a little faster than straight oil and you'll start building a film on top of it right away.

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The walnut Watco will dry faster than BLO and add a little color to the wood without hiding the grain. Plus one coat should dry in a day or 2, 3 days tops. BLO might take a week or even more to dry.

But straight to poly is quite safe for what you are doing.

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Yep, I think you'll be pleased with that.

 

One word of caution though...walnut is an open-pored wood and there's no need to drown it in the linseed oil.  Apply just enough to quench its thirst and wipe back any excess right away.  Otherwise the oil will weep out of the pores for days and they'll dry into little gummy boogers all over the surface...and that's no good.

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