straight grain doug fir finishing

[Greg Bearman]

I have a table top with straight grain doug fir. I tried a couple of finish on scraps and most of them seem to surpress and wash out the tight grain pattern. Any suggestions on how to pop or accentuate the grain?

[Jim Becker]

Douglas fir looks wonderful with an application of oil before going on to a film finish. It really brings out the color as well as the grain. Try it on scraps...just use ordinary BLO. If you're finishing with an oil based varnish, just go on from there after the oil cures for a day. If you're going to use a waterborne finish, then put a barrier coat of de-waxed shellac on before going to your film finish application.

[Scott Holmes]

To clarify... BLO = boiled linseed oil.

[Mike Monroe]

To pop the late wood of doug fir try the BLO like Jim suggests. I'm working with some hundred year old freshly milled doug fir and I'm trying to match the patina of some pine that was finished with shellac about a hundred years. I've been experimenting with different stains and finishes. Plain BLO darkens the doug fir a bit, but makes the late wood stand out. Oddly enough, in my case, Watco Golden Oak gets me closest to the color of the hundred year old pine.