walnut finish help

[eric fejeran]

Hello so I am building some shaker style kitchen cabinet doors with solid walnut and walnut veneered ply for the panels. Simple design nothing to special. Anyway wanted your guys opinion on finishing them. The customer wants a "dark walnut" color. So what I had in mind to keep it pretty simple is 2lb cut shellac, 2 coats Watco Dark Walnut Danish Oil, another coat shellac and some kind of WB top clear coat (Enduro Pre-Cat Urethane or Minwax Polycrilic). I have an Earlex so will spray the shellac and top coat. What do guys think? Any suggestions, anything wrong with this finish schedule?

Note: I want something simple but durable for a kitchen setting and pleasant to the eye. (ha i guess what every woodworker wants). But simple because this kitchen is MASSIVE. lots of cabinets!!!

[Lee Schierer]

Make sure your client knows that walnut will lighten with exposure to light. The dark chocolate color you see know will turn a lighter brown color over time. I'm not sure how the oil will alter that color change.

[Joshua Layne]

I am not too terribly experienced, but I have built a bathroom vanity out of solid walnut and I found that shellac _really_ brings out the luster of the walnut - it went from being brown with kinda sorta ok figure to being velvety with a deep glow. I know you're already planning it, just basically agreeing with you.

[Kent A Bathurst]

Test this - apply the very lightest coat possible of BLO then shellac over that after a few hours.

[Todd Carpenter]

Hi Eric,

Check this thread out: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=124502

For your top coats, I would stay away from polycrilic - I used to be a big user of that until I found the Target EM6000 http://www.targetcoatings.com/shop/p...al-274-32.html

It sprays exactly like they say and has a great feel to it - very silky.

HTH
Todd