Perplexed with finishing?

[Jeff]

Why do most of us hate finishing? :BangHead:

Are we confused by the abundant choices out there and which type of finish to apply for day-to-day wear and tear (kitchen table, bookcase, sideboard, chest of drawers, etc.). Impatience and a need for instant gratification? Wood species characteristics such as grain, figure, porosity, blotch prone?

Bob Flexner helps to take some of the uncertainty out of the process when choosing between an oil/varnish blend or a wiping varnish.

http://www.popularwoodworking.com/techniques/finishing/oil-finishes-their-history-and-use

Personally, I despise the former. In retrospect, my first naive exposure with an oil/varnish blend was an absolute PITA. Wipe on, wipe off (from Karate Kid) was endless and required a ton of rags later soaked in water to prevent spontaneous combustion. What a waste!

After much reading and enlightenment I finally settled on Waterlox Original Sealer/Finish as a go to finish for many projects. Easy to wipe on, no wiping off till **** freezes over, dries fairly quickly, and no sanding in between coats. Rag consumption dropped exponentially, but still needed a bucket of water for safe rag disposal. :icon_cheers

I love Zinsser SealCoat shellac too! A 1 lb. cut makes a great pre-finish sealer for blotch prone woods like pine and cherry.

Water borne poly isn't too bad either IMHO, but light sanding is required between coats.

What's your experience been? Do you have favorites and disasters to share?

 

[CrealBilly]

There's no magic bullet - many ways to skin a cat - grab what works for you and run with it...

Remember stain is bad 5 letter word

For sealer I like good old fashioned heavy bodied sanding sealer, that has soap in it for easy sanding.

For tone coats I like thinned down acrylic lacquer

For top coats I like acrylic based products either gloss lacquer or water based gloss poly.

This "formula" is very flexible for me and something I've worked with a lot and am used to. Get me on stain or shellac or tung oil and I'll make a big mess in a hurry.

 

[HMH]

Waterlox Original, (w/ or w/o a wash coat of 1# Shellac depending on the species), has been my finish of choice lately. Buffed out w/ 0000 steel wool before the final coat, it actually makes it look like I know what I'm doing!

I still use good 'ole fashioned satin poly on shop furniture, jigs, etc.

 

[CrealBilly]

Waterlox Original, (w/ or w/o a wash coat of 1# Shellac depending on the species), has been my finish of choice lately. Buffed out w/ 0000 steel wool before the final coat, it actually makes it look like I know what I'm doing!

I still use good 'ole fashioned satin poly on shop furniture, jigs, etc.

What is watelox original? a urethane? a varnish? I see a lot of folks using it so it must be pretty good stuff.

 

[Robb Parker]

It's a modified tung oil. dryers etc added.

 

[Howard Acheson]

>>>> What is watelox original? a urethane? a varnish?

Don't be misled by marketing descriptions of a finishing product. Waterlox Original is a pretty standard oil based varnish. It is made with a resin and a drying oil just like any other varnish. Its resin is phenolic and its drying oil is tung oil. Like other oil based varnishes the resin and oil are mixed and heated until it transforms into a new compound called varnish. Some thinner is then added to allow easier brushing. This is the exact same process used for any oil based varnish.

To call it "tung oil" is incorrect. Once mixed and heated there is no longer any identity with pure tung oil. The use of tung oil in the mixture makes the resulting varnish somewhat more water and moisture resistant than linseed oil varnishes however. For that matter, you would not call varnishes made with linseed oil, "linseed oil".

All in all, Waterlox is a pretty good non-poly varnish that is virtually as durable as poly varnish and quite a bit more water and moisture resistant than poly varnishes. The phenolic resin makes the resulting varnish more amber than alkyd resin varnishes. It's an excellent varnish for dark woods like cherry and mahogany.

It is not a polyurethane varnish which means it is more clear and produces a nicer looking finish.

 

[Jeff]

What is watelox original? a urethane? a varnish? I see a lot of folks using it so it must be pretty good stuff.

Waterlox Original Sealer/Finish is good stuff. Yes, it's wiping varnish primarily composed of tung oil, mineral spirits, and some driers. I prefer to wipe it on with an old T-shirt rag. Their site is informative for a range of applications that take heavy use.

http://www.waterlox.com/

It's a pretty good finish that pops the grain (with or without a shellac pre-sealer) without a lot of amber/yellowing on lighter colored wood like ash, birch, hickory, maple, and sycamore. It's pretty hard, durable, and easily repaired when needed. :icon_cheers

It's not cheap and it'll turn to a useless gel in the original container if you don't blanket it with "Bloxygen" every time you remove some and reseal the container. DON'T put unused stuff back in the original container! :no: