Vintage Redwood Birdseye Burl Table -- ouch.

[jeepndel]

This all natural edge redwood burl slab came from a tree on the N. Coast of CA in 1972.  I bought it (you could buy redwood burl back then), ran it through a planner, then refinished it with Carnuba wax -- 50 years ago!  Then it got moved around, stored, weathered, and to my chagrin, unattended for too many years.  I'm trying to bring it back but it's badly wounded.

7 feet long, 3 feet wide at the widest, and 4+ inches thick sitting on natural redwood drift wood.  It's over half (60% or so) birdseye burl.  Amazing piece.

What would be your best advice to saving this table (and preventing any further cracking or splitting)?

The pic showing the burl (birdseye) is just me wiping it down after sanding with a damp sponge to show the color and birdseye.,

[Chestnut]

That is a beautiful slab, I think you need to send that to my address for proper disposal... in my living room as a table. I have a soft spot for old redwood. It's a beautiful wood.

Jokes aside. Is the piece living indoors or out? If it's an outdoor piece I suggest moving it inside to prevent further cracking. Outdoors may be harder to control that. For a finish I'd go with a hard wax oil like Rubio, Osmo, etc. They will highlight the character of the wood, slow moisture transfer, and help protect from staining.

There are outdoor versions of Osmo and that may work for an outdoor setting but the checking in highly figured lumber can be very difficult to control outside slicing veneers and doing layups.

[jeepndel]

I'd love to find a good home for it but I think you're a bit far away!  :):)

I just don't have a big enough house for it to be inside.  So you're saying hard wax oil.  That is not epoxy, right?  

thanks for the help...

Del

[Just Bob]

What part of the country do you live?

After 50yrs I doubt it is going to get much worse as long as you protect it from the elements.  I bought mine in 1976, and didn't do anything with it until about 20yrs ago.  It was either in storage or hanging out in my garage.  I honestly don't remember what finish I put on it but I suspect it was Danish oil, since that was my preferred finish at the time.  If you are concerned about the large crack you could butterfly it in a couple of places.  

That edge is going to be really hard to finish.  If I was going finish mine today, I would brush  epoxy on edge and inside the large voids.  Then I would finish the top and bottom with Osmo Polyx.  It is  really durable and easy to apply.  It is really too bad that you don't have a place in your house for it.  But finished with a base the right person will pay a small fortune!

Ours is about 4' x 2' it a root burl, and we paid $75.00 for it.  I was offered $3k not to long ago. 

[jeepndel]

 

WOWZA.  Beautiful.  I will look into your suggestions.  Thanks again. I'm in N> CA.

[jeepndel]

Cl

That is with a wood cleaner coat (that will evaporate).  It shows what the finish will look like.

 

[RichardA]

Now that is real wood porn!!

[jeepndel]

On 9/15/2021 at 5:47 PM, RichardA said:

Now that is real wood porn!!

Right???  ha ha

 

[Chestnut]

14 hours ago, jeepndel said:

So you're saying hard wax oil.  That is not epoxy, right?  

It is not epoxy. Epoxy is going to be counter productive. It'll seal the slab but it will also eventually break lost flake off and create a worse situation than you are currently in, avoid epoxy.

An oil (Pure tung oil, linseed oil, etc) or hard wax oil product (rubio monocoat, Osmo polyx) will offer similar protection against moisture to epoxy but in the event that you need to repair the finish it's a very easy application that won't require sanding back to bare wood. Here is a link to a video about outdoor finishes.

[jeepndel]

Decided to go with butcher block oil, then Howard's bees/carnuba wax.

This is the first coat of butcher block oil.

I think it will be amazing.

[Woodworking_Hobby]

On 9/16/2021 at 6:50 AM, Chestnut said:

It is not epoxy. Epoxy is going to be counter productive. It'll seal the slab but it will also eventually break lost flake off and create a worse situation than you are currently in, avoid epoxy.

An oil (Pure tung oil, linseed oil, etc) or hard wax oil product (rubio monocoat, Osmo polyx) will offer similar protection against moisture to epoxy but in the event that you need to repair the finish it's a very easy application that won't require sanding back to bare wood. Here is a link to a video about outdoor finishes.

Have you used the Rubio exterior finish?  It looks like you have to get one of the oils that has some color in it to get UV protection and not 100% sure how that will look over Cypress. Osmo also has an exterior but it looks like a different product than the Polyx for interior applications. Do you have any experience with the exterior Rubio or Omso One Coat Only HS Plus. 

[Chestnut]

1 hour ago, Woodworking_Hobby said:

Have you used the Rubio exterior finish?  It looks like you have to get one of the oils that has some color in it to get UV protection and not 100% sure how that will look over Cypress. Osmo also has an exterior but it looks like a different product than the Polyx for interior applications. Do you have any experience with the exterior Rubio or Omso One Coat Only HS Plus. 

I have not used them.

[jeepndel]

I used butcher block clear oil to seal the old redwood.  But it sure did darken the wood.  I was surprised.

I am half-considering removing the wax and oil and getting back to as much virgin wood as I can and starting over with something that won't darken it so much.

thanks. Del