He had been collecting some very expensive antiques over the last 50 years. He retired from being a Judge here

in Breckenridge

I have been doing refinishing for him for quite a while.  

Him having 87 large antique clocks was probably his most prized possessions out of all that stuff and only one cast iron

lamp table was all that could be put back in to looking like it had before the fire. Every thing else was totally gone. 

  And I am afraid to ask him if he had insurance for he was so down in the dumps. So I need to make it look better than before 

the fire.

     I am in the process of making him some samples for the top of that table and I sure don't want to have him feeling

any worse than he already does.  I am thinking the minwax  looks worse than the other samples. Never liked that brand anyway.  I will try to talk him into the one above it. I also like the 100% tung oil that is next to the just plain wood with nothing on it

I just noticed a few pieces of saw dust in the picture. Maybe if I flipped the switch to the extractor it might help.

So sad. I sure hope you can help him feel better. 

Sorry to hear about his fire and loss Patch. Thankfully he escaped any physical injuries.

 

Good on you for caring enough to comfort him through your talents and generosity.

What a sad story Jess.  Even with insurance and riders for all the antiques - all he recovers is money.  OTOH, if he is like me - having the "collectible" is great but I think what I enjoyed more was the hunt.  Being retired he might be able to do a lot of hunting, and bringing Jess a bunch of work to do!

That table base is pretty awesome, what are your plans for that?

And what type of finish is the one pictured above the Minwax?  I like it the best also.

Something to ponder:  as we age we attach to Things, probably due to familiarity.  BUT someday those Things will need new homes, and in my case none of my kids (or grandk's) duplicate my (superb?) taste, so my Executor will have a headache.  What I'm trying to do:  glean the cupboards and display shelves and donate the excess Stuff to Goodwill.  Or the trash company.  [Aside:  I wonder if disposing of Stuff falls within that old saying "I don't have life insurance because when I die I want it to be a REAL tragedy!!!"]  At least in this area (central AZ), the various charities all swap stuff, so dropping things at the nearest intake point can benefit people all over.  I also note they have a really BIG dumpster.

Me too Lew for I have never seen him anyway but being jolly. Maybe he use to grin when he threw the book at the folks in his court room!!! 

 Pete when my pants are starting to fall down my wife takes them to the church to help others. They have a big building full of good stuff to the right person. Seems like I am loosing about a pound each day and maw is the best cook there is so I mush have a hole in my bottom I use to not have. 

  

Dave he was gone to town and when he went back towards home he said it looks like someone is having a big fire. I sure hope its not someone's home.

  

Cal the two bottom samples in the first picture are just the ash wood with nothing on it. The other piece has 100% tung oil which I dried it off after about 10 minutes with a dry towel. 

   This next picture has whats on each one if you can read them plus they have clear gloss 2X on top . gloss rustoleum 2 X

I think he wants the base put back to white. I thought maybe it had an off white be he said no, only bright gloss white.

I think I will only show him the two top pieces in the last picture. Actually when I move the boards in my hands I think the tung oil with a clear gloss coat looks the brightest. The more I use 100% tung oil the better I like it and it is the easiest thing to do for the wood and is mostly water proof and probably the cheapest for quart last forever.

 

The best reason I like it, your finished project never has no blotching or things a person has to redo a time or to to please a customer. 

The bad thing about the product is most people use tung oil finish and it don't ever have any tungg oil in any of the brands

I'm sorry to hear of your friends loss. I am sure that you will do the table right! 

Also sorry to hear of you friends loss.  As for a finish on red oak I've been a fan of cherry stain.  Then tung oil on top followed by some wax.  I found that on oak it would look better/closer in hue to the colors in air dried walnut which much of my other furniture is. Might me worth taking a sample strip of stain colors to compare to the colors of the base. 

4D

Here is the results and ready for that trip back to his burned down museum!

I know it's not the same as what he lost, but you did him good Patch. Well done on all fronts sir!!