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Advice on restoring carved wooden shelf please, gents.

(9 Posts)
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LondonGranny Thu 26-Sep-19 11:59:04

I have a lovely ornate carved shelf, unvarnished softwood, and the wood is really dry and brittle in places and it's a bit cracked here and there and bits are missing . I plan on fixing the missing bits with epoxy putty and then oiling the wood to improve its condition. It's not a valuable antique or anything (I'd be surprised to find it's more than forty or fifty years old) but holds great sentimental value because of who gave it to me.
I want to stain or paint it eventually, first to cover the epoxy putty repairs and secondly because I think the wood itself is nothing spectacular but will oiling it first cause problems? Obviously I won't paint or stain it for a while, I want the oil to really 'feed' the wood first. Also any advice on the oil to use? In the past I've oiled things with walnut oil but your informed opinion will be gratefully received.

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ninathenana Thu 26-Sep-19 12:33:00

DH who is a good chippy but not qualified says rub down with fine sandpaper be sure to remove any dust after then use linseed oil applied with a cloth, leave for a few minutes then give a good wipe off to remove any excess. This should leave you with a surface suitable for anything else you want to do about a week later.

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Nannyxthree Thu 26-Sep-19 12:47:06

I think linseed oil is used on cricket bats so must be good.

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midgey Thu 26-Sep-19 12:47:25

No advice but have you watched The Repair Shop? You might glean ideas there.

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LondonGranny Thu 26-Sep-19 13:04:42

Oh I completely LOVE The Repair Shop, not just for the expertise but because it's never about monetary value but how much something is loved.
Also where it's filmed is somewhere I visited when it first opened. It's appropriate because all the buildings were transported there bit by bit, lovingly restored and would otherwise be lost forever.

www.wealddown.co.uk

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LondonGranny Thu 26-Sep-19 13:11:47

I've got linseed oil too, good quality (Winsor & Newton, for mixing with artists oil paint).
I know it's a bit sexist to ask for advice from the gents but I didn't want this to get lost in current Brexit/Parliament argy-bargy so I stuck it in this section of the forums.
The advice is very much appreciated.

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peggyfarts Fri 06-Dec-19 10:39:42

Message deleted by Gransnet. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

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mumofmadboys Fri 06-Dec-19 10:44:22

Is it school holidays?

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Yehbutnobut Fri 06-Dec-19 10:45:31

gents?

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