Walnut Kitchen Table

[Andrew Jones]

Hello All. I am a woodworking novice, and am interested in your opinions.

I have built a table top out of reclaimed walnut. It used to be a beam in a barn, and therefore never treated or finished. After milling, it was kiln dried to kill any critters, and cut into boards. I obtained them rough cut and jointed and glued them together. I have planed and sanded (to 150 grit) the top side, but left the bottom untouched. The bottom is pretty rough, saw marks, gouges, etc.

Ultimately my goal is to create "farm table" look. Rustic and antiqued. However usable and durible for everyday use. After looking through this site, it seems as if the finishing advice is more geared towards high gloss more traditional finishing.

Can you please recommend where I go next with this project? I want to keep the gloss down, but protect the wood as best as possible.

Secondly, what should I do with the bottom? Can I leave it unfinished (this I would prefer) or would I be risking damage to the top? Can I coat the rough side with varnish to protect it?

Any help is greaty appreciated.

[Jamie Buxton]

You can leave the underside unfinished. The finish on the top side is water resistant, but not 100% water proof for exposures measured in months. That is, the wood is going to expand and contract over an annual cycle, unaffected by the finish on the top face or the un-finish on the bottom face.

For a finish on the top side, you could go with the kinds of finishes used on rustic tables hundreds of years ago -- oil or wax. Neither one is particularly durable or water resistant, so you'll get stains and scuffs and dings in the top. That's part of the really-rustic look, and some folks like it. A more water-resistant finish would be varnish. It really does keep water and fats away from the wood, and is reasonably scratch-resistant. You can buy low-gloss varnishes to reduce the shininess. One way to avoid the look of a plastic-covered table is to be stingy with the varnish. If you put many thick coats on the table, they fill in the pores, so the surface looks less like wood, and more like plastic. Use fewer coats to keep the surface looking more like wood. I wipe-on varnish, specifically because each coat is thinner than a brushed or sprayed coat, so there's less risk of a finish that is too thick. Of course, part of the function of the finish is to protect the wood, so there's some hazard to a thin coat of finish. But that's where your rustic approach comes in; an occasional ding will be okay.

[Andrew Jones]

Is there a type of varnish you have had success with? Also, would it be benefical to use oil and then cover it with varnish?

[Barry Vabeach]

Andrew, you have a series of choices - on a sliding scale for the most part - the more durable the finish the harder to repair if damaged. Wax offers little protection, but when it wears off, or gets scratched very easy to repair. Danish oil - which is just a wiping varnish gives a little more protection and is only slightly harder to repair. The next step up includes film finishes like lacquers - again more protection - much harder to repair. I strongly suggesyou buy Flexner's book on finihing and read it before you make any decisions - it is well worth the money - and if you don't ever finish anything again you should be able to sell it easily. If it were mine, I would definitely apply a finish to the underside - you want the top and bottom tio absorb moisture evenly - thiugh I wouldn't care what the underside looked like inside the frame. Oil gives a great look to certain woods like walnut - do a serch for BLO ( which is a mixture including boiled linseed oil) and you should get a lot of tips.

[Steve knight]

you should finish both sides so moisture absorption is even. you could get warping if you only finish one side. you don't need to sand the underside but do put as many coats on it as the top if you using any type film finish.