How to finish a Specrite panel for craft table?

HarryB

G'day experts,

The back story: I need some guidance on how to finish/seal a Specrite Brown Acacia Multi Use Panel. It's going to be a craft table so it needs to be flat, after removing the plastic film the panel developed some localised cupping and needed to be planed flat. Despite having a very sharp plane, there is some tear out around some of the knots which will need filling, I also want to restore the dark original colour as the planing has removed the dark preservative oil coating. I would like to use a tung oil for the final finish.

There's a couple of pics attached to show he contrast between the factory finish and the native Acacia, also shows the rippling that appeared after exposure to the air for a couple of weeks.

The questions:

• What filler should I use? (Knowing that it's going to need to be darker than the native Acacia).
• How do I achieve the close to original colour?
• What sealer is best?
• What is the order in which I do all of this?

Cheers

HarryB

JacobZ

Hi @HarryB ,

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. It is wonderful to have you with us.

From here, I would suggest sanding the whole panel back to bare timber to remove the colour discrepancy. You're always going to have trouble getting a perfect match between the freshly sanded areas and the existing finish, so starting again with a consistent bare timber surface will make it much easier to achieve an even result.

I'd start by sanding the panel to remove the existing finish using 120-grit, then use a suitable timber filler to repair the tear-out around the knots. I'd go with either https://www.bunnings.com.au/timbermate-500g-teak-wood-filler_p1563586 which has similar gold tones as acacia, or use https://www.bunnings.com.au/timbermate-250g-natural-wood-filler_p1560685 and mix it with your chosen stain to try match the colour as well as you can. Once the filler has dried, sand those areas smooth and give the whole panel a final sand so everything is consistent. Brush or vacuum it thoroughly to remove all the sanding dust.

You can then apply a brown stain to bring some of that darker colour back into the timber. Something like Feast Watson Walnut Prooftint Interior Stain or Feast Watson Teak Brown Prooftint Interior Stain could be worth testing. I'd definitely test the stain on an inconspicuous section first, as the final colour will depend heavily on the natural colour and variation in the Acacia.

Once the stain has dried completely, give it a very light sand, if necessary, remove any dust and then apply your tung oil according to the manufacturer's instructions.

So, the order I'd follow is sand, fill, allow the filler to dry, sand again, remove all sanding dust, stain, allow the stain to dry, lightly sand if necessary, then apply the tung oil.

Let me know what you think and if you have further questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

Jacob