Elbow grease or electric

[brendajorsler]

I have a lovely old oak table that I have stripped and stained. I have tried to polish the top to a nice shine using beeswax but it is quite 'smeary'.
The more I polish it with a soft lint free cloth, the more it looks smeared.
Would anyone recommend some sort of electric polisher ? I have seen the ones that people use on cars with a lambswool cover but as these are always 'circular' would the shine on the table be in 'rings'?
I would like to go with the grain, but have not the arm strength to keep hand polishing.
Any advice welcome
Thanks
Brenda

 

[and1c]

I have a lovely old oak table that I have stripped and stained. I have tried to polish the top to a nice shine using beeswax but it is quite 'smeary'.
The more I polish it with a soft lint free cloth, the more it looks smeared.
Would anyone recommend some sort of electric polisher ? I have seen the ones that people use on cars with a lambswool cover but as these are always 'circular' would the shine on the table be in 'rings'?
I would like to go with the grain, but have not the arm strength to keep hand polishing.
Any advice welcome
Thanks
Brenda

Brenda

You need to buy one of these

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/UDM-Ultimate-...ameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem#ebayphotohosting

Its a random orbital sander and all the car detailing (polishing) freaks love them because it doesnt leave the swirls you talk of ...

Not cheap but then, the best never is

 

[brendajorsler]

That looks like a serious piece of machinery !!
As you say, a bit expensive though.
Thanks for the reply
Regards
Brenda

 

[r896neo]

hey,

Sorry to tell you this now but you should have sealed it with something before waxing.

Oak has a pretty open grain so is usually waxed but imho you get a better result after sealing it with shellac sanding sealer. Waxing straight onto the stained (but still bare) wood is difficult to build up evenly.

Have you used a coloured wax?

I have used a car polisher with great results when waxing over french polish on a large table top. Try to apply the wax evenly and make sure you let it dry before buffing or you smear it.

 

[brendajorsler]

Hello
I had the tabletop taken away and professionally stripped / stained / waxed and polished and it looked fabulous. The chap advised me to use beeswax to keep the shine. I have done this but don't have the energy to fully buff the table top to a good shine. So as a consequence I think that my wax applications are just 'sitting on top' and looking smeared. I have also been putting teak oil on the table and leting it soak in and trying to shine that up. I hope that I don't have to send the table top away again as it was quite expensive to have done.
I think that I will get a car polisher and have a go.
Thanks for your reply
Brenda

 

[r896neo]

hey brenda great to hear someone commited to a nice piece of furniture and paying a lot to have it restored!

Maybe i'm not understanding correctly but from what i can work out you had the table stripped and then how did they finish it? French/ shellac based polish isnt that common on oak as its such an open grain. Whatever finish it is they obviously waxed over it which is fine and you should apply beeswax to keep it topped up!

But i'm not sure i understand you right but are you putting oil on top of the wax? If so this what is making your finish streaky/ smeared. You generally wouldnt put oil on to wax as it never soaks in and then you smear it around. you can wax over well dryed old oil but not so much the other way round.

As for the remedy i would ring whoever refinished it for you and ask them as how you remove the oil will depend on how they finished the table.

And in future you could you a liquid wax applied in thinner coats allow to thouroughly dry and you will find that much easier to buff.