Oak stripping

[Kinclad]

I have a mountain of old Oak panelling that I am stripping/sanding/Shellac and waxing. Toby’s information pages have been an extremely useful resource in this task.

The only problem I have is very small, almost pin head sized remnants of white paint remaining in the grain. Has anyone any ideas on how I can easily remove these? The trouble is they completely ruin the look of the wood after all my preparation work. Nitromors doesn’t seem to pull them out, the big problem seems to be that they are below the surface of the wood, filling the grain. I have resorted to using a pin and pricking them out but this takes an age and inevitably I miss some and the result is ruined.

Thanks in advance.

Mark.

 

[Penners]

Have you tried a gentle scrubbing (along the grain - never across) with very fine wire wool soaked in Nitromors?

Sorry to state the obvious, but do be sure to wear chemical-proof gloves.

 

[MdB]

Have you tried a gentle scrubbing (along the grain - never across) with very fine wire wool soaked in Nitromors?

Isn't wire wool and oak "a bad thing?"(TM)

 

[Penners]

Well, that's a fair point. Thanks, MdB.

It could be a problem if you rub too hard, and leave particles of the wire in the grain. But I've got away with the above technique (ie: gentle rubbing) on a number of occasions, without any problems.

To be sure, you could always substitute a non-ferrous soft wire brush for the wire wool.

 

[Kinclad]

Thanks for your help.

Now I’m going to show my naivety here!

When we refer to the grain, am I correct in saying that the grain is the marks you can visibly see in the wood i.e. the horizontal lines that you see in my attached pic? Also do some types of grain lend themselves to an indication of age or quality?

p.s you will see the white dots in the PIC. Damn anoying..why did they ever paint this stuff?

Many Thanks,

Mark.

 

[chuckey]

I had this problem, what I use is a narrow wood chisel, with the cutting edge re-ground so it is at 45 degrees to its old axis. Now you have a sharp pointy end and a proper handle so you can manipulate it. A sharp stab and a flick of the wrist you've got one out, just 7,826 more to go!
Looking at the picture the blemishes account for 1% of the total area, so 99% of your Nitromors/elbow grease will be missing their point. Also these holes are some time relatively deep say 3X their diameter.
Frank

 

[piper]

Although I am an obsessive perfectionist in much of what I do (especially making the things I make as part of my living - totally uneconomic attitude of course) in this instance I'd be tempted to leave them. It's part of the history and character of the wood, and life may well be too short to pick them all out individually.

Alternatively - this may be heresy - what about applying a tiny drop of stain to each paint speck? Might make it look worse of course.

 

[middi]

Hand pick every single dot, or leave it alone. Miniature screw driver set , including a sharp pointed bradle, will lift the paint out from their "sunken" state. If stubborn dab the paint dots with nitromores first.

Restoration IS very tedious.

 

[Jon Maine]

You could also try a brass wire suede brush, but as Middi says it is tedious.

Personally I dont think that the posted picture is bad, dont forget that you are currently looking at the panel at close quarters. When on the wall those specks will hardly be noticable.

I have a stone fireplace which was hacked with an axe. We filled the hack marks with repair mortar but left them slightly hollow. Some minor defects which show the history and age of parts of a building are valuable for the story they tell of the development of the building.

Try putting a panel in position and living with it for a short while and see if you find that the marks actually disappear into the background.

 

[Penners]

am I correct in saying that the grain is the marks you can visibly see in the wood i.e. the horizontal lines that you see in my attached pic? Also do some types of grain lend themselves to an indication of age or quality?

Yes, the grain of the wood is the direction in which the fibres run. In almost all types of wood this is pretty clear from the look of it. As you have said, lines run along the wood indicating the direction of the grain.

The behaviour of the grain is one of the characteristics that are responsible for the individual look (sometimes called the "figure") of the wood. For example, the oak that you have shown in your photograph has typical flecks in the grain (which are responsible for your problem!).

The age of a tree can be exactly measured by looking at a cross-section of the grain - but only if that cross-section incorporates a complete representation of the whole or half diameter of the log. Simply counting the annular rings tells you the tree's age in years, because a tree grows a new annular ring each year. Each ring usually consists of a light-coloured area (the fast, softer, spring growth) followed by a darker area (the late-season growth that is more heavily impregnated with a strengthening substance called lignin, and hence is denser and stronger). In some species the colour difference between this early and late growth is very marked, in others it's quite faint.

In general, the slower-grown the wood is, the narrower and more populous the annular rings will be in a given diameter of log, so the better the quality of the wood.

 

[Kinclad]

Thanks for all the input.

I have about 20 of these...lovely in Pink?

Then onto the skirting which is in 2 separate parts and the hand rail.

Cheers,

Mark.

 

[Penners]

I hope your paint stripper budget is substantial! (Not to mention your patience).

 

[Gareth Hughes]

Thanks for all the input.

I have about 20 of these...lovely in Pink?

Then onto the skirting which is in 2 separate parts and the hand rail.

Cheers,

Mark.

Nah, paint all of them the colour of your choice (there's another thread going on at the mo about how unfashionable "brown" furniture is). The timber will still be there underneath for someone else to spend years uncovering if they wish - but painted panelling (when someone else has already painted it) is fine for a few more coats.

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Re wire wool.

B&Q (inshallah!) do a very good synthetic substitute wire wool. It has the same gentle abrasive qualities of wire wool, seems to last a lot longer before disintegrating, and does not leave little bits in oak to discolour it. I have chucked the packaging away but think it was imaginatively called "synthetic wire wool".

It's only downside is that it is not as much fun to set on fire when you are plumbing with it!

 

[Penners]

synthetic substitute wire wool

You're probably talking about Scotchbrite* - it's the same stuff that you use in the kitchen for scouring the baked-on black marks off pans (which always occur when I've been cooking). It is widely used in the wood industry as a mild abrasive. It's fine, so long as you don't try to use it when it's getting worn and crumbly, at which time it leaves tiny green or brown flecks of itself all over everything.

*Not always called that by the likes of B&Q.

 

[chuckey]

I use stainless steel pot scourers for cleaning up my copper pipes before soldering. Residue does not go rusty in the tool box. Would these be any good for oak?
Frank

 

[Jon Maine]

In terms of the fact that stainless will not discolour oak yes. On the other hand in practical terms it is probably not fine enough to get into the grain and effectively work.

 

[Kinclad]

Hi all,

Well after around 30 hours of stripping/sanding etc…this is where I am on a section that was originally painted pink. As you can see from the photo the top right part I haven’t completed yet but shows that obviously the panelling was stained previous to it being painted. I know that by taking/sanding back to its original natural form may lose some of its aging but I guess this is the only way I’m going to get a consistent finish across all the sections I have. So basically I take it all the back and then re-stain.

So my plan from here is to apply a light oak stain, then 3 coats of shellac, then beeswax/turpentine to buff to a finish. Am I going in the right direction do you think?

Btw. I live just outside Brighton and the paneling came from a local reclamation yard. It looks like this stuff may have some history as it was taken from a victorian section of the Brighton Pavillion that used to be a childrens library.

Thanks in advance for any comments.

Cheers,

Mark.

 

[Penners]

it was taken from a victorian section of the Brighton Pavillion that used to be a childrens library.

It's looking beautiful, Mark. But I confess that I'm sceptical about the Brighton Pavilion story. Given the importance of that building, why would such high quality panelling be removed from it?

And if it was, why and with whose permission?

 

[Kinclad]

Well it wasn’t removed from the original i.e. ‘Prince Regent’ section. It was in fact a separate building that happened to be in close proximity to the pavilion. It is a children’s library that the council decided to totally revamp. So I guess the Pavilion link is being stretched somewhat.

I have known the owner of reclamation yard for a number of years and I’m pretty confident he would not do anything underhand.