Preservation of wood?

[LittleWatchShop]

I delivered this clock to the owner today and they asked if they should do anything to the wood (furniture polish, etc.) to keep it from drying out or deteriorating in any way.

I did not have an answer. 

Comments?

[RichardHarris123]

I don't know either but I seem to remember that furniture polish is detrimental.  Bees wax or linseed oil?  I look forward to more knowledgeable advice. 

[HectorLooi]

Whatever you do, don't use Lemon Pledge. That contains some synthetic stuff that gives the wood a "moldy" appearance after a year when it dries up. And the only way to get rid of the moldy look is to apply another coat of Pledge. It's horrible.

Personally, I use Howard's Feed n Wax now after learning it the hard way.

https://www.howardproducts.com/product/feed-n-wax-wood-polish-and-conditioner/

But I'm curious as to what professional clockmakers use. Renaissance Wax? $$$

[spectre6000]

Don't use linseed oil. It's a drying oil, and would essentially be like adding to the finish. Pure beeswax is a pretty hard solid, and won't apply very easily, or look good when it does. Furniture wax is a pretty wide range of things.

The origin of the Lemon Pledge option is likely lemon oil. Not for every finish (unknown what the clock has on it to begin with), but it's what we (luthiers) use on fretboards (bare wood). Some people use it on bodies and everything else as well, but I've never been one of those people. It stays oily, and unless the finish is open pored, it might not do much more than be a dust magnet.

You could MAKE a furniture wax of beeswax mixed with a non-drying oil (olive oil for instance). I forget the ratio you need for it to be easily applied though... You can shave a block of beeswax into a mason jar. Note the weight (make it a round number for simplicity) and add... 15% by weight of olive oil. Microwave it, and stir. Let it cool. If it's soft enough to wipe on, go nuts. Otherwise, add a little more oil, and repeat until it wipes on easily. There are commercial options, but you never know what you're getting.

[watchweasol]

The best is bees wax, there are preparations available from material houses.

[Timorbloke]

As a cabinetmaker, I have made a couple of long cases to house recovered movements and my recommendation is ,as above, to use a beeswax polish.

We have a saying on polishing wood with beeswax: once a day for a week, once a week for a month, once a month for a year. This is how very old tables and furniture have built up beautiful deep finishes over the years.

[tomh207]

Same as ting oil for gun stocks

 

Tom

[oldhippy]

Make sure the clock is away from central heating you don't want it near gas or electric radiators because they will not only dry out the wood but dry the oil from the movement. Never use that so called muck they call polish in an aerosol. A good clear beeswax is best, apply with a clean cloth and rub off with a clean cloth. Do this about every 6 weeks. 

[spectre6000]

What is it that people here are calling "beeswax"? Beeswax is hard and yellow. If you rub it on something, it'll leave a streak like a dry crayon. Not something you'd want on furniture, or really anything I can think of.

[HectorLooi]

Yes, you are correct. Beeswax is hard, like a bar of soap. But wood finishing beeswax is dissolved in a solvent like orange oil, mineral oil, etc. The solvent will evaporate and leave a thin film behind. Some elbow grease will work it into the wood and give a nice lustre.

[Martyd]

I would be wary about using olive oil (spectre6000), would it not tend to go rancid over time. My preferred wax is a mixture of beeswax, carnauba wax and natural turpentine.

[oldhippy]

Olive oil is used in cooking. So do you intend to cook the wood?

[spectre6000]

"Rancid" is when the hydrocarbon chains break, and the resulting free fatty acids bind with oxygen to form aromatic compounds that smell bad and are able to accumulate in sufficient concentration that you can smell them. Beyond that, Oils is oils (this excludes any mineral derived oils, different thing entirely). Hydrocarbon chains of varying lengths with varying degrees of saturation. Olive oil is 18 carbon bonds, and is partially saturated. Linseed oil is 16, pretty thoroughly unsaturated, and the free fatty acids like to form polymers when oxydized. Chemistry mumbo jumbo aside, there's nothing special about olive oil that makes it for cooking or vice versa. Olive oil is medium length, relatively saturated, and non-drying. It was traditionally used in all sorts of things that wanted oil that didn't dry, such as leather treatment, wood finishing, etc. I use it routinely for French polishing for example, as well as maintaining my vegetable tanned leather. I have also used it to cut beeswax for wood/leather treatment in the same manner. It's a good, readily available, middle of the road oil without any major drawbacks.

Waxes are like oils, but even longer, and fully saturated carbon chains.

Martyd's recipe is another good one. The carnuba wax is fairly modern, but turpentine evaporates more quickly and would have been common prior to the rise of "better living through chemistry" in the latter half of the 20th century. You could do turpentine and beeswax as a finish to split the chronological difference.

[Martyd]

Spectre6000, Thanks for the information.

[Senyamnesi]

I keep a small container of silica gel in the drawer with my wooden cases to help with moisture, and every few months I just gently wipe the wood with a clean cloth.