Polish my wood

September 9, 2009 9:41 AM

Woodworking - What's the best way to strip and polish a piece of wood cut from a grape vine?

I cut down the 15 year old grape vine in my greenhouse today (which did feel like vandalism, but it was sucking up a lot of light and space while producing very little).

I'm left with some beautiful pieces of gnarled wood - a couple of pics here and here, and a view of the inside. I've always liked pieces of polished driftwood, and thought I might be able to do something along those lines with some of this wood, but I haven't been able to Google up much info on the process.

Has anyone got any hints on the best way to go about this?

posted by boosh to home & garden (3 comments total)

I know this isn't an exact answer to your question, but as kids we used to whittle the bark off of "fox grape" vines that broke from our riding on them. On top my buffet I have a chunk that was whittled at least 75 years ago by my grandfather. With a little linseed oil it looks fabulous.
posted by mrmojoflying at 11:31 AM on September 9

The first thing you'll probably want to do is dry the wood, because what you've got at the moment is technically 'green' timber (even if it doesn't look green). You've really got to get any mosture out first if you want to polish it or apply any other surface treatment (although mrmojoflying's linseed oil idea would probably be ok). It'll probably take several months sitting in a dry place out of the sun and rain before it's fully dry and ready to work on.
posted by le morte de bea arthur at 11:37 AM on September 9

mosture? moisture. Sorry.
posted by le morte de bea arthur at 11:37 AM on September 9