Expert: Greg Scholl - 12/6/2011

Question
QUESTION: Hi Greg,
I am creating furniture from reclaimed wine barrels. The inside of these barrels is stained by the wine. The surface itself is somewhat porous having been slightly charred prior to the wine being introduced to the barrel. I would like to preserve the color as well as the texture and I am not sure how easily it will flake off. I was wondering if tung oil might be a good solution for this?

Thanks,
Ally

ANSWER: Hi Ally, sounds like an interesting project. Any place that's charred, is going to be pretty fragile, and dirty....it'll mark anything that rubs against it..and carbonized wood is soft. There's no way to really harden it or encapsulate it to preserve it in such a situation I'm afraid...Tung oil is a penetrating finish, and will have an inherent amber/brown color.A modified Tung oil/Varnish called Waterlox might be a better choice, but you'll have to decide what 'look' you're after, and how to best apply it and in what quantity (coats). These barrels are White Oak, and it's a beautiful wood, but the inside will be adventure as to how you treat it and finish it off...I think you're going to have to remove any charring to a certain point where the surface is intact enough to finish. You'll likely still have quite a bit of coloration and variety of texture, but some experimentation is going to be necessary, for sure.I'm unclear as to how you're going to be using these, the staves or whole barrels?....once separated from the iron hoops, the staves might not hold their shape uniformly, so be aware of that... Feel free to post back and let me know what you do....would be interesting to see a picture. Regards- Greg

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I sanded down the inside of the staves (I'm making a table as my first project)and it appears that the surface should be intact enough to finish. Turns out the charring wasn't as deep as I had originally thought. I guess I'll give the Tung oil a try and see how that comes out!

Answer
That's good news...you might want to try an Acrylic Urethane..(waterborne). They dry very quickly, allowing you to apply several coats in a day or two, and while they won't impart as much ambering/brown to the Oak, they will better bind the charring, and you could use a dye stain underneath (or any other stain) if you want to.I like the Enduro-Var by General..the Tung oil is great and imparts that beautiful amber tone, but it takes 24 hours between coats, and is very thin so it won't tend to bind the charred areas as well....love to see a picture- Best- Greg

http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/2081078/30236/General-Finishes-EnduroVar--SemiG