A question:

I have some old pine timber, from a door frame trim, 50mm wide and about 10mm thick.

I want to make a small jewel-box thingy out of it, but it has patches of a white bloom on its surface which seem to be associated with the original sawing and dressing.

Nothing i have tried (varnish, wood stain, furniture oil, thorough sanding) seems to do anything towards removing it from the timber.

Anyone know what it is, and how it might be eliminated, please?

captain_spalding said:

A question:

I have some old pine timber, from a door frame trim, 50mm wide and about 10mm thick.

I want to make a small jewel-box thingy out of it, but it has patches of a white bloom on its surface which seem to be associated with the original sawing and dressing.

Nothing i have tried (varnish, wood stain, furniture oil, thorough sanding) seems to do anything towards removing it from the timber.

Anyone know what it is, and how it might be eliminated, please?

Old pine? Can’t be Callitris. Old Radiata?

roughbarked said:

captain_spalding said:

A question:

I have some old pine timber, from a door frame trim, 50mm wide and about 10mm thick.

I want to make a small jewel-box thingy out of it, but it has patches of a white bloom on its surface which seem to be associated with the original sawing and dressing.

Nothing i have tried (varnish, wood stain, furniture oil, thorough sanding) seems to do anything towards removing it from the timber.

Anyone know what it is, and how it might be eliminated, please?

Old pine? Can’t be Callitris. Old Radiata?

Probably radiata, is my guess. Came from the timber receycler’s yard, most likely from a demolished old house, could be quite old.

Has a lovely light golden colour, and i’d like to keep that, with just some good clear varnish over it, but this white bloom spoils that.

captain_spalding said:

Has a lovely light golden colour, and i’d like to keep that, with just some good clear varnish over it, but this white bloom spoils that.

Note that some woods such as pine or cherry do not absorb stain evenly, which results in “blotching”. To avoid blotching, a barrier coat such as shellac or a conditioner should be applied before the stain. Gel stains can also be used to avoid blotching.

roughbarked said:

captain_spalding said:

Has a lovely light golden colour, and i’d like to keep that, with just some good clear varnish over it, but this white bloom spoils that.

Note that some woods such as pine or cherry do not absorb stain evenly, which results in “blotching”. To avoid blotching, a barrier coat such as shellac or a conditioner should be applied before the stain. Gel stains can also be used to avoid blotching.

Blooming

Timber species that have high levels of ‘extractives’, such as waxes, oils and resins, can sometimes develop a condition known as blooming. This is a haze that occurs on the coating when the weather is cold and damp.

Solvent-based polyurethanes are more prone to blooming, because the extractives can dissolve into the coating system.

If you notice a haze on the floor in between coats, clean it off with thinners and add an anti-rejection additive to the next coat. Also make sure the ventilation is adequate, so that the solvent can’t build up in the air above the floor.

If the blooming is in the finished floor, you may be able to remove it by waiting three days and then washing it with diluted dishwashing liquid in lukewarm water.

captain_spalding said:

Anyone know what it is, and how it might be eliminated, please?

If it’s not a mineral deposit from seepage from porous cement block walls, it sounds like a Chalk Effect paint. Have you got enough scrap that you could test a variety of treatments?

captain_spalding said:

A question:

I have some old pine timber, from a door frame trim, 50mm wide and about 10mm thick.

I want to make a small jewel-box thingy out of it, but it has patches of a white bloom on its surface which seem to be associated with the original sawing and dressing.

Nothing i have tried (varnish, wood stain, furniture oil, thorough sanding) seems to do anything towards removing it from the timber.

Anyone know what it is, and how it might be eliminated, please?

If it’s radiata, it may be an oxidised resin bloom. Try metho. Metho dissolves radiata resin. (I don’t know whether dissolves the oxidised resin though)

I know nothing about this. Photo?

Thanks for your advice.

I resorted to the methods that solve so many of our problems in this modern age: unbridled aggression, and more powerful and more savage weaponry.

I tried scraping it with a sharp chisel (had been reluctant to resort to cold steel, but c’est la guerre…), and that seemed to help. So, i put coarser paper on the sander, and went to town on it all.

That got rid of it, much orbital sanding later.

Got a coat of varnish on it, looks good. Must have been something related to age (timber’s, not mine), and it went a bit deeper than the surface, but thankfully not too deep.

Thanks again.