There are several sites on the internet that suggest tests you can perform on the wood to determine the finish, but I don't see any that include a test for an oil finish. Here is a link that might be useful: Wood floor finish tests

Get back up there!

I don't mind, and as long as it has to do with photography, I don't think it matters to the owners of the forum. Nice pictures. I, too, find it interesting and am always wanting to keep the 'old ways' alive for future generations. Here are a couple of cannon stories that I will share from down here if anyone is interested. The first is from the university that I attended. When the airport was being expanded near the campus, a civil war cannon was unearthed. It was restored to it's original condition and is now fired at football games everytime the team scores points. 'Fired' meaning 'blanks' of course. Second story involves one of Santa Anna's solid gold cannons that was lost a couple of miles from here, when the Mexican Army tried to cross the river. It got stuck in quicksand, and eventually sank out of sight. No one knows how to recover the still-sinking cannon. Water and mud keep washing in as fast as it can be dug out. Someday it may be recovered. Kt

I seldom visit here this forum and why I'm here today I was looking for aprons. Seen this thread and I visited. I hardly ever sew anymore, fingers don't work well on fine details and close quarters. However...... Enjoyed Annie's story on her recent 50th anniversary Project. Good for you. I was never good at sewing anythink unless I had a pattern and lots of instructions, even tho I sewed alot for myself and daughter. Your story Annie took me back to my Mom who was a great seamtress. She could look at a piece of material and visualize it made up somehow. She could take 4 patterns and fit into one pattern, or even make her own patterns. My mind just never worked that way. One story she told that back in Depression Time, her Mother who worked at a Department Store in Detroit Michigan sent her two mens sale suit she got for almost nothing. Mother took them apart, make my two older brothers each suits consisting of nickers, coat and a matching hat. Her mother-in-law (my other grandmother) ask her where did those boys get those outfits?, (knowing there were no extra money to buy something like that) Mother said "I made them from sale suits Mom sent down" Grandma Bill said, "I should have known" My two cents helping to keep this forum ALIVE!! I'll see if I can visit here more even if I don't sew much anymore. Shirl