Which side should I use.

[Parbynat]

I am making a coffee table for my sister and after convincing her to go for something different I bought a 2 inch thick ash slab from a timber yard.

After a load of sanding using 100/150/180 grit I applied danish oil, 3 coats in total.
A day later I looked at it and wasn't really happy with the finish, hard to explain just disappointed with it so I thought I would use my router surface planer sled for only the second time and router a millimetre from the surface and try another approach.
After looking at both sides I was beginning to question which side to use so hence the reason for my post.
I have attached 2 images.

Also, was my first attempt a good way to do it?

Thanks

 

[paulrbarnard]

What didn’t you like about the first attempt? I would have used a similar approach but sanded to 320 or 480. Did you wait long enough between oil costs? I tend to do the first couple with about a six hour gap but then a full day on subsequent coats. I also do about six coats then buff with wax after it has dried for a few days.

 

[recipio]

Brown inclusions can look attractive in ash but I would use the cleaner side. The second photo reminds me of a rorschach test - or a nasty stain. Don't use solvent based finishes on ash or it will turn an unattractive honey yellow. I would probably use a water based polyurethane.

 

[Parbynat]

Paulrbarnard- It seemed as though where there was imperfections the oil kind of made it look dirty and unattractive.
I did put second coat on well earlier than 6 hours, could that cause a poor finish?

Recipio- Are you referring to the brown mark, wont that just sand out?

 

[recipio]

Recipio- Are you referring to the brown mark, wont that just sand out?

Sorry, I had assumed that is ' olive ash ' a brown heartwood found in some ash trees. If so it will penetrate a few cms into the wood and not sand out. If it is just the Danish oil you applied it will have penetrated a few mm and you will need to sand it.

 

[paulrbarnard]

Paulrbarnard- It seemed as though where there was imperfections the oil kind of made it look dirty and unattractive.
I did put second coat on well earlier than 6 hours, could that cause a poor finish?

Recipio- Are you referring to the brown mark, wont that just sand out?

With the level of sanding the surface still has a bit of tooth which the oil will cling to. Building your second layer too soon might just of added ‘wetness’ to the first coat and contributed to a build up of thicker oil in the grain. Thicker oil will have a different sheen to it and will show more of the oils colour. The trick with oil is to let it soak in then remove any surface oil completely and let it dry well before the next, lighter, coat goes on.

 

[TRITON]

Belt sander to start , then ROS to follow.

This is a very good addition to everyone's arsenal.
Cheap(£90) compared to most pro belt sanders, and I've used this under pro workshop conditions with 3 of us hammering the hell out of it 5 days a week, the majority of the time on oak.

 

[Sachakins]

+1 for sanding to a higher grit, 180 too coarse fir finishing. I go to 400 min, clean off, light wetting to raise the grain, then 400 and 600 before finishing.

If its now flat, it may be easier yo plane rather than surface routing.

 

[Jones]

The stain in the second photo is clearly a surface stain from drying, it does not follow the growth of the timber and is not a fungal rot. It looks like you have taken very little of the surface, the chalked on price is still visible. With rough sawn timber I would expect to take off at least 2-3mm to get to good clean wood and the fastest tools to use will be power planer or router.

 

[Fitzroy]

I'd use the side with the brown mark (which should plane out), I don't like coffee tables with edges that slope away from the surface as a miss placed cup soon makes its way to the floor.

The piece looks like the crotch of a tree, so should have some nice pattern in the centre. I'd expect a hand plane on the stained side would soon clean it off then start your sanding.

 

[Parbynat]

Thanks for the replies.
I really do want to take the surface with the stain back to see how it looks so I think that's the way forward.
Once that is done I'll decide then which to use for the top.
I do tend to rush things, such as not going through the grits far enough as I can't wait see how it looks once oil has been applied.
I'm going to take my time with this and try and get it to look as good as I can.

 

[Adam W.]

Sorry to come across as a bit basic, but have you tried planing it flat first?

 

[Reffc]

Brown inclusions can look attractive in ash but I would use the cleaner side. The second photo reminds me of a rorschach test - or a nasty stain. Don't use solvent based finishes on ash or it will turn an unattractive honey yellow. I would probably use a water based polyurethane.

+1

I'd use the cleaner side personally. Level out the planing marks with a belt or half sheet sander but go easy as used clumsily they can tear into the timber quicker than you think if not kept perfectly level, and use just light pressure and keep it moving. Don't have it set on too high a speed, use a medium grit such as 80 or 120 and get the planing marks out.

Not much point in finishing much greater than 240 to 320 grit if building a finish up. water based PU or acrylic lacquers are built up to multiple coats then lightly sanded and polished back to get the final sheen or gloss (the finer the grit the more the gloss). For extracting maximum "pop" I'd use an oil base finish every time. As advised above the first coat should be left to soak right in for at least 10 or 20 minutes then completely remove the excess and leave 24 hrs to dry before building up coats. It usually takes between 3 and 5 coats to get a nice colouration and sheen depending on the finish. For a more durable finish I'd look to harwax oils like Fiddes or Osmo Poly-X. For a more natural sheen and to extract maximum grain contrast I'd look at a thinner Danish type oil such as Liberon Fine finishing oil. For the benefits of both, I'd use Liberon for the first few coats then two coats of hardwax oil on top but only after a few days to allow the first oil coat to oxidise/cure fully.

 

[thetyreman]

you could always use a router sled which are not too hard to make to get it to thickness then follow up with a handplane.

 

[MF1000]

The sheen I’ve got on my spalted beech cookie slab with Oli Natura hard wax oil is probably the best I’ve ever achieved…taken down to 2000 grit and once assembled as a coffee table I’ll burnish it with 0000 wire wool and several coats of bison wax