Finish for white oak

[Richard Chan]

Hi Everyone

I'm almost finish with my first project, hall bench which doubles up as a shoe rack. It's made out of solid white oak and since it doubles up as a shoe rack I would like the finish to be durable but don't want the epoxy look. I would like to keep the natural look of the grain pattern.

I apologize for the question as I'm sure it's been asked many times.

TIA

Richard

[glenn bradley]

You don't indicate color preference so I'll assume you are talking about a topcoat. Despite my natural dislike for that plastic look you describe, I will put coats of poly on table tops or stool rungs and such where a lot of wear will occur even when the rest of the piece is shellac. The shoe rack area of your piece may be a good candidate for this.

A mix that will darken your material somewhat, accent the figure, go on easy and give a decent wear resistance is an equal mix of BLO, mineral spirits and oil based poly. As ALWAYS when trying finishes; test board, test board, test board.

[Prashun Patel]

on anything that shoes are going on, I'd use polyurethane.

A lot of people like to 'fill the grain' on open grained woods like oak, but there's no saying you have to. An easy finish would be poly thinned to 50% with mineral spirits to make a wiping poly varnish. You might require a good 6-9 coats, but it'll dry quick, and will be a cinch to do.

[Richard Chan]

Thanks Glenn for the response I would like to keep the natural color of the wood without changing it too much. I understand BLO will darken some, but the the mix may not be too bad.

[Richard Chan]

I'm getting closer to the finish line. Anymore suggestion would be greatly appricated.

[Randy Carnley]

If you can find it, Sherwin Williams makes a catalyzed varnish that you can spray on; available in different brightness levels; very durable and doesn't affect natural color much at all. I've used it for years; warning -- it's dangerous stuff; spray only in well ventilated area.

[Richard Chan]

Thanks Randy... Any other suggestions are welcome

[Tony Bilello]

When it comes to durability, think about all of your table tops, coffee table tops, dresser tops etc. manufactured over the last 80 years or so and how well they held up. It was probably a lacquer finish. Lacquers come in gloss, semi-gloss, satin and even the look and feel of an oil finish.
Great stuff. Can be recoated every 10 to 15 minutes. Less than 1 hour and you are FINISHED !!!!

[Richard Chan]

Thanks Tony. Do you recommend full strenght?

[jay case]

I like lacquer. I spray is on using brushing lacquer strait from the can.

[Jim Becker]

Just be aware that spraying (or even brushing) solvent-based lacquer requires paying attention to safety, both for the location and the person.

As to durability, "poly" isn't likely going to hold up any better than any other quality alkyd or phenolic resin varnish. Polyurethane has a "little" more abrasion resistance since it was developed for floors, but for things like tables and shoe racks, you'll not likely see any real difference. In fact, I'm major sorry that the one project I used poly...our kitchen table...looks horrible and needs refinished. The water borne acrylic (Target Coatings) I used for the rest of the kitchen still looks nearly new. Sprayed in 2003. Same cleaners. Go figure.