Figured cherry finish.

[Josh Mayfield]

I was wondering what kind of finishing schedule you would use for a Quilted cherry veneer coffee table top.

[Frank Drew]

Josh,

Ideally, the clearest finish you can use, to showcase the wood, so that means no dyes or stains. Shellac would make a pretty good sealer coat (but so would thinned lacquer or varnish).

I think realistically you might want a finish that can resist damage from water or alcohol or the normal abrasion a table is subjected to. Oil finishes can be very nice looking but will most likely need renewing from time to time, and won't give you the protection of a film finish. And a film finish such as lacquer or varnish absolutely doesn't have to look like "wood under plastic."

[Gary Herrmann]

If you want a very easy to apply finish, try General Finishes SealaCell followed by the gloss level wiping varnish of your choice. With figured wood like that, I'd personally stay away from glossy.

[Bryan Hosford]

Tung oil and wax.

[Faust M. Ruggiero]

Put some lacquer thinner on a rag and wipe the surface. Look for blotches. If the lacquer thinner creates blotches so will any stain you apply. There are volumes written on staining cherry. If you like the finish natural and don;t mind an oil finish, that is an easy answer. If you need a hard durable finish, and I believe you since it is a table, you need lacquer, varnish or some other hard finish (avoid poly if possible). If you are not set up to spray, you might want to bring it to a professional finisher.
fmr

[Scott Holmes]

I'd apply BLO to pop the grain. Then seal it with super blonde de-waxed shellac.

Then I would apply a hard durable varnish that will stay clear and not yellow; this excludes any varnish with urethane resin or phenolic resin...

An alkyd resin/soya oil varnish would be my choice. Pratt & Lambert #38 in satin or gloss (I 'd use gloss then buff it to the final sheen when it was completely cured).

I would use the P&L #38 as it is one of the best varnishes available; it can be difficult to find. Most hardware stores that carry P&L paint can order it for you.

Another Alkyd/soya varnish is the Cabot #8000 series they are NOT usually available in the big box stores.

[Josh Mayfield]

I do have a hvlp sprayer, I was thinking of BLO then some garnet or orange shellac followed by Target coatings EM6000 water based lacquer or General finishes High Performance Top Coat. Trying to go with water based since the shop is in the basement and it gets way too cold in the garage in the winter. I plan on rubbing the finish to a satin or semi-gloss.

[Scott Holmes]

You need to be careful with the water-borne finish it is not a true NC Lacquer it is an acrylic and does not behave the same as NC lacquer. Too cold could be a real problem.

[Conrad Fiore]

Josh,
That schedule should work. I would opt for the garnet over the orange, and make sure you do a good wipeoff on the BLO and allow a few days to fully dry before applying the shellac and EM6000. Make up some samples of the garnet vs. the orange and make your selection based on the finished samples. The EM6000 will attain a warm straw color as a solvent based finish would look. Be sure to wait about 100 hours before final rub out.