Burled Walnut Slab

What's the recommended way to finish a burled walnut slab for use as a tabletop ? Sandpaper grit, type of oil, etc. ? What did the high end crafts people like George Nakashima do for their finishing technique ?

 

Hi,
I think I remember that Nikishima used pure tung oil on his pieces. I have been using tung oil on my pieces since the 1960s. Not the synthetic tung oil but the real deal. It has never given me a problem nor changed color. The synthetic stuff turned a table top an orange shade I had to remove.
greg

 

It depends on what the table top is used for i'd say. I bought a walnut slab to replace a QA walnut highboy base top that had a pine top, 27" wide by about 6' long. Since i was using it as a server in kitchen i wanted a tough finish, restorer used varnish, not sure if he used oil or water base
slab i used

 

Here is QA base that the above slab was installed on, about 1760, NY or RI. I liked this piece because it was a nice example of the "neat & plain" style popular in the 18th century plus, it had it's original hardware/brass pulls.

 

Great idea for the QA base James. . . creating a one piece lovely walnut top.

 

The real deal tung oil is my weapon of choice as well.

 

Thanks, yes i was pleased with the result, the walnut slab wasn't cheap either, i think i paid $600 for that slab above or about $100. per linear foot. I asked the boutique mill where i purchased it why so expensive and the answer was, most of the old trees they took down were in urban areas, houses in the way, power lines, bla bla bla plus for a slab that wide, they must air dry until it reaches 20% moisture content. That slab above took 4 years to air dry to get to that MC before they could finish it in a kiln to get it to final 11% MC. Add all that up, GET OUT YOUR POCKETBOOK when it comes to wide slab walnut.

 

I second that emotion James.

 

Many long years ago (about 40 to be exact) I used to get walnut stock from a little place outside of Perry, KS that had huge piles of walnut they got from gunstock factories. They were selling it as firewood at $10 a pickup load. Got many a piece to turn into replacement legs for furniture. Still have some left that I have carted around with me.

 

Hi,
I used to see antique 4" solid walnut doors go into the trash. It made me cry back then. It still does.
greg

 

No kidding.

 

Squared. Fortunately now they know better as often as not.

 

Is pretty sure George used 100% tung oil, ditto Sam Maloof but, depending on what table is used for, that is A LOT of work and takes A LOT of time plus, you'll have to reapply a maintenance coat every year or so. And if table is used in a kitchen for example, I'd say it's a mistake to finish a top that way.

 

If you like the tung oil look, why not do a couple coats of that followed by oil poly (varnish) top coat. That way you get the best of both worlds with less work & much more durable, maintenance free surface.

 

Many are not aware but what they think is a lowboy (dressing table) is actually a highboy base, how to tell? Dressing tables are much smaller, 30 inches or so tall and narrower as well. Most 18th century highboys came with a matching lowboy, you might say they were America's first "suite" of furniture.
As time went along, most highboys got separated from their matching lowboy & some highboys got split to make 2 pieces of furniture from one.
Here is a bedroom suite at Philly Museum of Art, built by John Head for a German immigrant in 1726, solid walnut, W&M style, Philadelphia

Notice how much smaller the dressing table (lowboy) is in proportion to the highboy base.