Ok, I admit I am a relative newbie to wood. My timber framing class (week long) is coming up in two weeks. The extent of my wood refinishing is sanding down a shovel handle and applying some minwax stain and some polyurethane. When I start with small timberframing projects after my class (I have reclaimed 100+ year old pine barn timbers and some 5 year old white oak beams), I know I will want to finish them with something. Even if a beam is rough sawn, I may want to keep the surface finish but apply something that will smooth the surface like the polyurethane does. What type of products should I experiment with? I also would probably like playing with color (stains) but then want a smooth type of finish over that. There was mention of Land Ark Oil in one post. What is that? Does it give a smooth finish or only color?
How would you finish these hewn beams? I would want to keep the hewn look but smooth over the wood to create a smooth splinterless feel to the finish.
hewn timbersOh I should also mention that I have been doing auto restoration and body and paint work for many years so I do have a level of skil in applying finishes. I do understand that many are done by hand on wood though. Any information or advice welcome.
Thanks, Brad
