Finish for beech

[Anonymous]

I have been approached by a friend to build him a stand for his hifi he wants it to match his mission speakers .I had a close look at them and they are not varnished but do appear to have some sort of finish but you can almost feel bare wood .Any ideas for a similar finish for a natural feel ?

 

[ike]

Depending on how open the grain is, I use one or possibly 2 coats of sanding sealer, the second applied sparingly with rag. Flat each coat (fine wire wool except on open grained or oak) then apply a good paste wax - gives a natural sheen and you can still feel the grain. This finish is not ideal for all applications as it is easily marked by water.


Ike

 

[Chris Knight]

AP,

I have just noticed you were talking about beech - so I have had to remove my answer which was based on oak!

 

[Anonymous]

No probs WH if you can think of anything let me know i still have at least a month before i start it , thanks ike for the info

 

[Midnight]

AP..

I donno if this is suitable cos I've yet to tackle my beech slab, but I kinda stumbled on a dead easy finish the other day working on elm..

I wasn't too happy with how my panels were turning out with just a wipe on coat of Organoil; I was loosing a ton of character in the wood, and yet I wanted to stick with the oil because of it's child safe features. So I played around with it a bit, ending up wet sanding it using 320 grit..

simply poured some oil onto the panels, spread it around some to even the distribution, then started applying the elbow grease through the 320 wet and dry. the dust mixed with the oil to form a kinda slurry that was a perfect colour / compatability match with the wood. The slurry gets drawn into the open pores and acts as a sealer. Once the mix felt sticky (snatching the pad outa my hand) I quit, finishing the job by buffing away the excess with a clean rag and letting the panel dry. I haven't applied a 2nd coat yet, but as they are, the panels feel wayyyyyy smoother / silkier than a simple wipe on coat. The finish is a kinda matt satin that retains most of the character of the bare wood; colour tint is on the honey side of neutral. Looks nice.....

 

[Anonymous]

Sounds like a winner will have to test it out on the off cuts when i start it thanks for the advise

 

[Midnight]

AP..

I liked it cos.. basically it was a no brainer; no alchemy involved, and you can see how it's gonna turn out pretty much from the sec you quit buffing it...

 

[PitBull]

AP,

I would suggest you give Mission a call - from personal experience on technical matters (replacement parts etc) I've always found them to be the friendliest and most customer-oriented hifi manufacturer around, and I'm sure if you ask them they'll be able to tell you what is the finish (if any) on the beech veneer. You will probably need to know the model number, or at the very least the range (75 series, 78 series etc).

web site is at http://www.mission.co.uk, and phone number is +44 (0) 1480 423700.

 

[Anonymous]

Cheers PB i never thought of that (hammer)

 

[Chris Knight]

Here I was all this time thinking that you meant Mission style speakers (no idea what they might look like but I do understand Mission style) - hence my earlier confusion about oak - Mission style wouldn't use beech!

 

[Anonymous]

Good job i was on about mission style not a missionary position you would have got in a right pickle .Thanks for your help peeps

 

[Shady]

Dunno what the speakers are like, but if I'm after a 'natural but professional looking' finish, I like to slap some oil on - a thin wipe of danish or organoil or whatever - basically just enough to bring the figure out. Follow this with blond shellac: won't darken beech, and gives a super silky matt finish/natural feel to touch. I wipe it on with a rag, and build 2 or 3 coats depending on the observed/desired finish. Very easy, very quick, and looks excellent. (It's also a superb method for renovating tired rosewood plane handles: they come up beautifully...)

 

[Anonymous]

Cheers shady i will make sure i've got plenty of off cuts to test out everybodies methods