Ancient Kauri cuts, machines, sands and finishes like normal wood. You can use your regular tools, methods and finishes. Like every species of wood, Ancient Kauri has it’s own unique characteristics. Start slowly and you will learn what finishing methods work best for you.
Ancient Kauri takes every finish we have tried.
These include:
- natural oil finishes and polishes
- oil based varnishes
- water based varnishes
- oils
- waxes
- epoxies and two-part finishes such as AwlBrite®
- shellacs
- stains
- water based finishes
- oil based finishes
- spar varnishes
- linseed oil.
Using standard best practices they all have worked fine.
Oil
We did extensive testing with every oil finish we could find. We cooked up and tried a lot of recommended recipes as well. We found that some oil finishes can actually hide active grain. One product really surprised us with how beautifully it sets off the grain. Rubio Monocoat® is the very best oil to use on Ancient Kauri. The results are so good we asked if we could become a distributor and they have agreed. Please call for more info about this extraordinary finish.
Here is our price list for Rubio. This finish really goes a long way and it is well worth its price. Please contact us if you would like to discuss this finish and what would be best for what you will be working with.
Product |
Pack |
Price |
| Oil Plus 2C Pure | ||
| 350mL | 1 | $ 48.00 |
| 1.3L | 6 | $ 155.00 |
| 3.5L | 6 | $ 400.00 |
| Oil Plus2C Colors | ||
| 350mL | 1 | $ 63.00 |
| 1.3L | 6 | $ 198.00 |
| Oil Plus2C-Component A | ||
| 20mL | 1 | $ 5.00 |
| 100mL | 1 | $ 15.00 |
| 275 mL Pure | 1 | $ 39.00 |
| 275mL Color | 1 | $ 49.00 |
| 1L Pure | 6 | $ 120.00 |
| 1L Color | 6 | $ 155.00 |
| 2.75L Pure | 1 | $ 260.00 |
| Oil Plus 2C-Component B | ||
| 75mL | 1 | $ 20.00 |
| 300mL | 6 | $ 60.00 |
| 750mL | 6 | $ 150.00 |
Wax
Oil finishes with a wax finish on top work very nicely on the Ancient Kauri. It has a rich look to it, but we found the durability is not long lasting without reapplication.
Varnish
We discovered something very interesting that in hind sight should have been obvious. We wanted a satin finish on some varnished pieces. We put up to eight coats of satin varnish on test pieces and were disappointed with the results. The satin finish was there, but the flash and iridescence were missing, everything looked kind of cloudy.
Somebody had the bright idea of using clear varnish for the base coats. The satin varnish was put on as the final coat. That works beautifully. The grain and flash all showed up great while the piece had the elegant satin finish on the outside.
So, if you want a satin finish along with clear details in your wood, use the satin varnish as the last coat.
Schelac
Build up in several coats with a thinner mixture. This can be done very quickly. A hand polish finish gives Ancient Kauri a beautiful deep finish. Schelac can also be treated to a furniture polish for that final touch.
What is it like for sanding?
Plan to spend a little extra time sanding. Some Ancient Kauri is like pine, there can be buildup if you go too fast. For high gloss finishes the most intense color, depth, grain, and iridescent qualities come through with very fine sanding. Sanding to 600 grit will work for most pieces. Taking it down to a 1200 grit will give you eye popping results.
We look forward to hearing from you if you have any questions or suggestions for finishing Ancient Kauri.
The wood from the root section of the tree is where the wild grain come from and has burl-like qualities. The great size of these trees ensures that we can get some huge and highly figured pieces. Here is where we find bark inclusions alongside the wild grain. During the drying process this subterranean wood can to move and change as the tremendous pressures from within are relaxed. Of course, when dried properly Ancient Kauri is stable.
Some of the sapwood has absorbed the color of the ground the tree was buried in. In modern trees sapwood is typically a lighter color then the heartwood, it is the reverse with Ancient Kauri. You can see this unusual coloring in some of our boards and timbers that have natural edges.
There is a very unique and beautiful grain activity that is found only in Ancient Kauri. This is called “Whitebait”. Whitebait is rare and interesting confluence in the grain of the wood.