How to care for your Garden furniture

Welcome.

Today, I want to tell you how you can care for your Wooden Garden Furniture.

Well, if your furniture has become very grey and worn in colour, it is now time to give it a facelift.

To start with sandpaper off the entire surface following my instructions on How to sandpaper Wood. (This is on my Blog site)

Once you have finished all the sanding, and have cleaned off all the fine particles of dust.

You are now ready to start to protect your outdoor wooden furniture:

I would suggest that if the furniture is made of Teak, then I would recommend that you use Teak oil.

This can be purchased from any good hardware store.

It is best to apply this by brush, as you can reach all those hard to get at places.

Apply one coat of Teak oil and let it soak into the grain for a short while.

And then rub off the excess.

Then after the first coat has dried, it is best to give your item another coat over, and once again let the oil soak deep into the wood.

I would suggest that you work outside in the fresh air. As the oil gives off a slight odour.

Safety Points:

Before you dispose of your used Cloths / Rags you must first wet them with water.

As they can, become self-igniting. (Therefore very hazardous).

Never leave any used Cloths / Rags in your home, always dispose of them in a Wet condition, and store them outside your home in a suitable waste bin.

Wash the brush out according to the manufacturer's instructions.

I hope that this has been of use to you.

If so please give me feedback.

Thanks for reading.

How to make your own stains

Hello,


Today, I want to tell you how you can make your own wood stains.

Method One:

Using Raw Linseed oil and Pure Turpentine:


Mix equal measures of raw linseed oil and pure turpentine and apply using a piece of cotton wool to the prepared surface quite liberally.
Wipe off the excess with a clean piece of rag in the direction of the grain.
This stain should be left to dry for at least 24 hours, after which time, the surface will become as dark as it can possibly be.  It may have darkened a little more from when it was first applied.
Please note, that this is a chemical stain and will act only on certain timbers, mainly Mahogany, Walnut, Rosewood and very old Oak.  It will only darken the main timber and will not affect the inlays or stringing.  The colour achieved will depend on the natural colour of the timber and it will serve to greatly enhance the beauty and clarity of the wood.

Method Two:

Bichromate of potash:


This is another chemical stain that needs to be mixed in warm water first.
Bichromate is sold as fine crystals, and should be stored as such; so do not mix up litres (gallons) in advance, as it will not keep for very long in its mixed state.
If a strong solution is mixed the final colour will become much darker, so please experiment with lighter shades first. 
You should always mix a sufficient amount for the job in hand, as it will be very difficult to mix another batch to the same colour.  Also, the colour cannot be judged until the polish has been applied.
It is best used on Mahogany, whether it is inlaid or not.  If used on inlaid woods it will not affect the inlays.
Apply the stain using cotton wool and wear rubber gloves.  
Be careful as this stain bites into the wood very fast so you must work very quickly, rub on and off in the direction of the grain, wipe dry with old rags.

What is French polish made of?

Welcome,


Have you ever wondered what French polish is made of? 
Well, I have some very interesting reading for you today.


Origins of lac:


Lac, the resin, is excreted by the insect Laciffer Lacoa, from, which shellac is produced.  The insect is a parasite living in certain trees in India and other Eastern countries, and India is the biggest exporter of the world’s lac requirements.  The insect is orange-red and about 1.25mm (1/20in) long, and has a life cycle of about six months.  It covers the twigs and leaves of certain trees with a protective resin.
The Male dies after the fertilization of the Female, and upon death both Male and Female insects are trapped in the resin.  The lac, when gathered (stick lac), contains the dead insects and impurities from the bark of the tree. 

Manufacture of shellac:
The lac is gathered by cutting the infected twigs from the trees and then scraping the lac off the twigs.  Once the lac has been removed from the twigs it is washed with water to remove the particles of twigs and other impurities; and on drying it is known as seed lac.  This is put into canvas tubes and heated over a fire.  One end of the tube is fixed and the other rotated to squeeze the molten shellac through the Hessian as it melts.  The initial shellac that comes through is clean and small amounts are dropped onto cold stone, where it sets in the form of a thin disc up to 75mm (3in) in diameter.  This is known as button lac from which button polish is made.  The next amount of shellac that oozes through may contain impurities which would easily be detected visually if the shellac was in the form of a button and it is therefore, stretched into a thin sheet and crushed, when cold into flakes.  It is from these flakes that which French polish is made.
White and transparent shellac are made by dissolving the seed lac in a hot caustic solution of water and then bleaching the solution with chlorine.  After bleaching the caustic is neutralized with an acid, which causes the shellac to precipitate out of the solution.  In this form it is known as bleached shellac.  Bleaching shellac alters its chemical properties so that unless it is dissolved in alcohol within three or four days after bleaching it will become insoluble.
Shellac contains a very small amount of wax from the insect.  The wax is insoluble in alcohol and causes the cloudiness that can often be seen settling towards the bottom of the container.  Transparent shellac is made by, removing the wax from bleached shellac and washing it with petroleum solvent, which dissolves the wax but not the shellac.