Hello Group. Wood finishing advice needed.

[Jay Kaner]

I am restoring an old 1970's Italian rocket shaped pepper mill. It's a design classic and well worthy of been restored.

The main body has been turned from a solid piece of Teak. I have sanded it down, using wire wool starting from course, then medium then fine and it's come up lovely.

What I'd like to know now is...How do I get the best finish for it? What's the best way to bring out the woods natural beauty and show off the grain? Do I varnish it? Or do I oil it? Or is there another way to go about it?

I'd appreciate any advice.

[Andy Dingley]

Put a really good sanded finish on it before applying anything. Wire wool if you like, but try to finish through the full range of grits right to 0000. Personally I prefer the plastic web abrasives like 3M or Webrax, especially the really fine grey pads.

Then oil it. You can use any modern finishing oil (it'll be marked as safe for food use) or many people prefer to finish "food" items with plain mineral oil form a drugstore ("liquid paraffin" in the UK). Use a tiny amount on a paper towel, because teak is already an oily wood and this type of oil needs to soak in, not cure on the surface.

[Jay Kaner]

Right. That's excellent. Thank you very much for the advice. I shall get myself down to a hardware shop and get everything I need. I've got this far, I might as well make the best job of it and buy the finer sanding grades.

Once again...Cheers for that.