Look What I Found! ...and rattan & wood restoration suggestions

I found this at a garage sale a while back and have been working on it little by little.

It was originally built for a family in Indonesia in the mid 50's. Since arriving in America sometime since then it had been sitting in a wet basement, was falling apart, and was covered with paint splatter, motor oil, and what have you. I originally thought it was brown but this is how it cleaned up.

front

back

The top was a mess and in several pieces when I got it. I've been sanding it like crazy to get as much of the water stains out as I could. Still working on it, but I'm at the point where I could use some Ohana help. (any tricks for eliminating water stains?)

top

Don't know what type of wood this is (teak?), but I'd like to give it a nice stain and a finish that can stand up to some use.

close-up 1

close-up 1

It has a couple of cracks. About 1/4 inch and all the way through. What's the best way to fill this? Just wood filler? Is there one preferred over others because it takes stain, etc?

These are some stains on the lower left

and here is a closeup

Any idea what this is? It's some kind of stain or mold growth or something. Should I try some diluted bleach on it? I noticed that some of th nails have a little discoloration around them, but not really noticeable, but this is a little disturbing. Any ideas on how to get rid of it or at least lessen it's impact?

Final question would be about overall finishes. I've heard about boiled linseed oil for that "glowing" rattan look, but if there's a quicker, stronger, longer lasting idea I'd like to know about it. (There's not actually any room in the house right now so it's staying in the backyard)

Thanks in advance for all the input!

[ Edited by: spy-tiki 2005-11-01 14:41 ]

Tha's a beautiful piece! Glad it was found by somebody who has the time and energy to restore it.

There's such a thing as wood bleach that might help with the discolorations, but you'll have to sand any residual finish off the affected areas before you can apply it. For finishing, I wouldn't recommend linseed oil for an outdoor-friendly finish. Clear or Amber shelac could work, or a satin finish spar varnish. The top could use a good solid float of clear urethane around 1/8" thick. Maybe find some vintage postcards to laminate under it, or some cool tapa. I've seen both done and they look pretty nice.

Congratulations!

A real beautiful find there spytiki.
What you may want to check into using is something called oxylic acid. It is a well known wood bleaching tool. I have not used this for several years but did get good results when I have used it in the past. I believe it comes in a crystal form and there may be liquid concentrates also. It should be available at any good sized hardware store. Ask for help in locating it on the shelf because I do not have a brand name to recommend to you. If you want to learn more before buying & using oxylic acid, just do a google search to read more about it. Good Luck and remember, you must add more photos as you progress. 8FT

... paint it black... run blue led's from under the top lip and just under top lip of the kick plate...

... run a small smoke machine exhausting from the bottom...