Are my cabs Birch? Oak? Maple?

[Jezibels]

I just purchased my camper this Thanksgiving and the PO gave me the original manual but it does not say what wood was used to craft the cabinets. They are original and in very good condition, I was just curious on if they were Birch, Maple, Oak. I don't want to sound like a dummy when people ask me.

Thanks so much guys!

[overlander64]

Greetings!

You coach's interior looks wonderful. The species of the veneer utilized for cabinetry varied from year to year as well as depending upon whether the coach was a Land Yacht or a Land Yacht International

In the photos, your coach's veneer very closely resembles the golden oak that was utilized in my '64 Overlander.

Good luck with your investigation!

Kevin

[InsideOut]

I concur...you have Oak. There were a couple of options in the mid-60's, Oak, Walnut & Mahogany...Birch was generally used in the 50's.

Shari

[Jezibels]

Thanks Kevin and Shari!

The PO gave me a bottle of Old English, is that what you guys use on your cabs?

[47WeeWind]

Originally Posted by Jezibels

Thanks Kevin and Shari! The PO gave me a bottle of Old English, is that what you guys use on your cabs?

Hi Jezibels:

I have a 1964 19' Globe Trotter like Shari's, the same year as Kevin's Overlander. I use Old English Lemon Oil exclusively to maintain the Oak wood in my trailer. It's a wonderful product and likely one reason your trailer is in such excellent shape. It was maintained regularly by the PO using great products. Don't use any furniture polish containing silicone. Silicone it make it extremely difficult to refinish or touch up wood. Stick with the Old English Lemon Oil. And congratulations on your new Airstream!

[InsideOut]

I used Howard's "Retor-A-Finish" when we first got the trailer and have maintained it with Howard's "Feed-N-Wax" since. It's an orange oil & beeswax polish, similar to the lemon oil in that it is a natural product and it smells good!



Shari

[Tom Nugler]

Very nice interior. I had the same issue trying to restore my ’67. I took a sample over to the area hardwood specialty supplier. He immediately identified it as Ash.
As it darkened with age it looked very similar to oak.
I later verified that in ’67 Ash was used in the Land-Yachts (Cherry in the Internationals) when I found a copy of the Airstream Story sales brochure on e-Bay. They show up frequently and are an excellent source of info.
The interior pics at Vintage Airstream 66Tradewind1 for a '66 show the same coloring and grain of the Ash veneer as in my "67.

Tom.

[Jezibels]

I found out just now, my cabs are Honey Stained Ash

http://service.airstream.com/files/l...c60bb61117.pdf

[KAYAKAMPERS]

I was going to use Restorafinish on our '66 Overlander International we just bought, but I'm still confused about the wood - Mahogany or Cherry? Shari, do you know? I wanted to begin today, but don't want to mess up the beauty!

[webspinner]

Mahogany and cherry have very different grain structures. Can you post a picture?

Mahogany has narrow lines running parallel and cherry is a smoother, flatter surface with wider grain patterns.

[KAYAKAMPERS]

Here is our Picasa link with pics we took right before we picked Daisy up!
https://picasaweb.google.com/1158341...eat=directlink
You'll see a variety of pics in the bedroom area (less fading) and some in other areas. Depending on where the wood is located and how much sun it got shows the variety of color and dryness. I'm ripping out the carpeting today!! YOOHOO and then we'll see if we find any hidden floor issues plus begin to 'refinish/restore' the wood
Beth

[webspinner]

It's not easy for me to tell the wood from those pictures. I'm not an expert, but I've had a fair amount of experience with mahogany and cherry. If you get a chance for some close up pictures, that would help. I'd need to be able to see the wood fibers and not just the overall pattern.

Maybe someone with a better eye for wood can chime in?

[KAYAKAMPERS]

Webspinner, I'll take some close up pics this morning and post. We think it is possibly cherry, but before I begin the refinishing of them, I want to be fairly sure.
Thanks.

[tphan]

Originally Posted by KAYAKAMPERS

Here is our Picasa link with pics we took right before we picked Daisy up!
https://picasaweb.google.com/1158341...eat=directlink
You'll see a variety of pics in the bedroom area (less fading) and some in other areas. Depending on where the wood is located and how much sun it got shows the variety of color and dryness. I'm ripping out the carpeting today!! YOOHOO and then we'll see if we find any hidden floor issues plus begin to 'refinish/restore' the wood
Beth

Looks like mahogany to me. We've got that in our '66 tri-level house, it was popular (and still plentiful and cheap) back then. Probably from Honduras.

[KAYAKAMPERS]

Here are some pics. I tried to take them with flash and without. You'll see some of the variations in color also. Almost looks like walnut!

[webspinner]

It looks more like walnut to me than either mahogany or cherry. Cherry doesn't have such marked sketch lines, and mahogany doesn't have as much light/dark large patterning.

In dismantling our cabinets while changing the plastic over to birch, I've found pieces with both walnut and mahogany veneer. Apparently, they would use whatever extras they had on hand for the parts you can't usually see.

[webspinner]

Be careful when you re-finish it because some of the veneer can be really thin and it doesn't take much sanding to go right through it.

[KAYAKAMPERS]

Thanks Webspinner! I won't begin refinishing until this weekend probably - tore out the carpet today! I did see one spot where the veneer is lifting, so - yes - careful it is!
Thanks.

[KAYAKAMPERS]

We also got to thinking Walnut ourselves. We'll test the restore somewhere where it won't hurt anything!