So the 74 car I bought for parts or? had a darker dash than mine that would better match my steering wheel. It had a wiring fire in the car so I sanded down the dash to refinish. It seems like a pretty hard wood. I went to home depot and they only had a water base exterior gloss varnish. Bought a $10.00 brush and tried to apply with terrible results. The product was white in the can, very thin and not easy to apply. I did a thin coat to help seal the wood and let try over night. It didn't lay down and what I would say fisheyed and streaked. Sorry I didn't take any pics a little upset. I tried to see if maybe more coats would help but the second coat was going on worse and started to bleed brown from the wood. So maybe I need to seal this first with some other product and get a better varnish. Also maybe its teak? and I would not be able to get the high gloss Im after and just need to oil it.

Thoughts?

it looks alot like red oak.

azruss wrote:it looks alot like red oak.

+1 on the red oak. That was my first thought as well.
-- se

It could be red oak, but it doesn't exhibit the secondary flecks that are typical. The black specs do indicate water darkening though, which is indicative of oak exposed to moisture over time, even in small amounts. It might be a Kewi or Khaya or Okoume or similar, there are a lot of species that are not expensive, sound rare but are not, and generate this pattern and color. Good pics can be found here:

http://boulterplywood.com/

Pete

From the pictures, it looks like the wood has open pores which would indicate it could be mahogany. Most oak has closed pores. It doesn't look like teak to me in the photos, but as you indicated teak doesn't take finishes well. If the pores are open, many finishes resist around the open pores of the wood similar to the problem you mentioned. You might need a sanding sealer first to fill in the pores. If the prior owner used a finishing oil (Watco oil, Tung oil) you'll have problems until you sand down to wood that hadn't absorbed the oil. If it is bleeding brown, that could be residual smoke in the wood pores or indication of a water soluble stain used on the wood. It's tough to tell without seeing it in person.

I've used two things successfully on the dashes: Helmsman Gloss Spar Urethane spray - very very light coats at first, then heavier coats later, sand and buff for a gorgeous and durable gloss. The other was spray lacquer. Also very very light coats at first with sanding in between, and many, many coats thereafter. It also can be sanded and buffed to an incredible shine but isn't as durable as Urethane.

This is a walnut dash I did with spray lacquer (about 6-10 coats with sanding between every coat) then sanded again and buffed out.

Looks like some type of "Mahogany", Id say almost certainly not oak. Water based clears are difficult to applyand if you really want a "built up" look they require a LOT of coats. Not worth the effort unless going a bit "green" is a priority. Lacquers, while toxic as all heck while spraying, offer nice build and each coat (sand in between with very high grit) will yield better results than the last.

Oh and John, that Walnut dash is stunning! I may have to go that route in the future...

Thanks guys. Some things I just don't have alot of patience for. John when you say spray was it out of an aerosol can or in a paint gun? Also was it for Exterior use? Just dont want all the work to start clouding using an indoor product.

Im just about ready to send these off and have them done. I may give it one more try.

the urethane spar varnish comes in an aerosol, available at lowes, etc. the problem with the pores in the wood is they resist the clear coat and fisheye around them. to get over this usually requires a very thick spray coat that can lake over these spots. once you lake over, then you can sand it down flat. As long as you done go thru this clearcoat, you have the wood sealed. I did 4 coats with sanding inbetween the first 3. The last coat layed down good enough, i didnt sand and polish.

Ok so I decided that I would try some kind of sealer. Looking at the spray varnish it recommended a sealer/stain minwax. I wanted the wood a bit darker to help match the steering wheel so I bout some dark walnut and Chestnut. Did some samples on the back of the shift plate and went with the Chestnut. I had read some wood guys like to wipe down with mineral spirits. I had some so I sanded, blew off the dust, tacked ragged and used a foam brush to apply the MS. I then open then stain/sealer and using the same foam brush applied the stain. went down very nice. However When I tried to reapply more stain full strength I noticed it wanted to separate so added some spirits to the mix and cleared it up. I have to let dry over night and then will start lightly spraying the clear on. All the gauges have been taken apart as the inside lens were filthy. I painted the trim rings and two of the gages had silver inside trim plastic rings so painted them black to match the rest.

I made the new clock face out of a cd cover to which I found the idea here. Didn't want to wait to order it so it will do for now. Now if only I would have order the correct amount of LED's Im short one to light up the gages. Really don't want to spend 6 dollars shipping for a 5 dollar light!

Before dirty lens and different wood:


Just the stain so far

spidernut wrote:This is a walnut dash I did with spray lacquer (about 6-10 coats with sanding between every coat) then sanded again and buffed out.

I so want to put a wood wheel on your spider

I'm glad the CD case idea worked on your clock. I did my 79's clock face about 12 years ago and it still looks perfect! I've done three clocks like this now.

If I read it right, you applied sealer and then tried to re-stain. The sealer seals the wood and the stain can't absorb. It will resist as you mentioned.

Since you obviously got the Helmsman Spar Urethane instead of the lacquer. Here's what worked for me when I refinished a dash with urethane. I applied two dusting coats of urethane and left it on just long enough to get good and tacky, I laid down two very, very, very heavy coats (actually flooding the surface of the wood with Urethane). 24 hours later, I was able to sand out the imperfections with 600 grit sandpaper repeat the process. When dry, I sanded with 2000 grit wet or dry sandpaper and buffed out the imperfections. It wasn't quite as glossy as the lacquer, but was pretty darn close and looked fantastic.

Be patient with the mahogany - Unlike other woods, I've had success using very very thin coats, sanding in between coats, until I filled up the pores. When I've tried a very heavy layer of any finish on mahogany, I got even larger imperfections that needed to be sanded out.

You must also be careful in that the sanded finish gets into the pores. You'll need to use an air compressor to blow out the pores. Or...try the paste stain - it will help fill up the pores so you can get a flat finish. Once you get them filled in, you'll be able to get a mirror finish if you want one!

BTW: I love the darker wood matching your steering wheel....great job! I can't wait to see the finished product.

It was a sealer/stain n one. I brushed on the first layer then right away I put some on straight out of the can and that's when things didn't play right and I dip the foam brush in some more spirits and it leveled out. Going to do some light dusting as you stated. This has helped before with regular paint that had issues laying down. The CD Cases I found were thin but for the time it will be ok. Thanks for the info and hope it goes well. I wish they had a patient pill

I recently did a clock face for a friend and used a broken plastic literature display rack from work. It was the identical thickness to the original clock face. You could get scraps from any local shop that carries plastic supplies.

Spay on...sand off....spray on...sand off. ... Some kind of bad Karate Kid lesson I have going here. Although it doesn't look to bad it got sanded down again to fill the pores. I made a big mistake to try some filler on the glove box door to help speed things up and it was awful. I hope I have it repaired but wont know till the next coat. So far I used a can to get it almost level . I think one or two more coats and sand down it will be ready for the top coats. matches the wheel pretty good.

The color is looking fantastic! Congrats - a little more work and you're going to have a gorgeous dashboard!