Finishing help, please!

[Allen Howell]

I need some advise on they type of finish for a couple of bowls that are ready for it. The first one is cherry (at least labeled that way when I got it). It has some nice grain, but also has some heartwood (shows as dark areas in pic, but the pith has been removed). I really like this bowl and don't want to ruin it with a bad finish. What I have on hand are: Mahoney Walnut Oil, Danish Oil (which I have yet to open), Johnson's Paste Wax, Tung Oil and some rattle-can shellac. I am not adverse to getting some other finish product but would rather not spend any money right now, if any of these is good for the cherry.

I also have a 9" Podocarpus bowl with some excellent grain figure. It is fairly light in color but has some dynamic swirls and some bark still left on the outside. Ditto for what I said above, but would like for the grain to pop a little more than I think it will. podocarpus_9-in_1.jpg has been enhanced to show the grain, but podocarpus_9-in_2.jpg is a pretty close rendition of the real color.

Any and all help, comments and critiques are welcome.

[Dennis Ford]

Either the Danish oil or Tung oil would bring out the grain nicely. If it is pure Tung oil, it will need to be thinned at least 50% before use. Once the oil (either one) drys; you could add a film finish for better protection.

[Jon Nuckles]

Nice looking bowls, Allen! I can only speak to the Cherry bowl, as I have not heard of podocarpus before. Cherry is prone to blotching when finished with anything that soaks into the wood to a significant extent. That includes oils and thinned varnish products such as danish oil. It can work out nicely at times, but you take a risk as you cannot easily reverse the results without sanding away a large amount of wood. You might get a sense of how the finish will look by giving it a heavy coat of mineral spirits. Blotching will show up while it is wet if you apply enough of it to soak in. Blotch preventers (wood conditioners) are just extremely thinned down finishes and my experience with them is not positive. With turned objects, the end grain areas will soak in a lot more than the face grain and will come out darker unless you sand them to a higher grit than the face grain. I love shellac and the way cherry darkens over time and exposure to light without an oil finish. That said, I know others use oil on nearly everything and love it, so take my advice with a shaker-full of salt. Good luck and post the results!

[Bernie Weishapl]

I would use the Danish oil on both. I have never had a problem DO or antique oil on any wood.

[Jim Burr]

Some satin Formbys Tung oil finish would look cool!

[Bill Bolen]

DO does great things for Cherry. Hi lights the natural color of the heart wood and sure pops the grain.

[Allen Howell]

Thanks for the replies, folks. I think I'm gonna try the DO this time on the cherry.

[Prashun Patel]

For future cherry work, if you ever come across some garnet shellac flakes, grab 'em. IMHO, it doesn't get any better than BLO + garnet shellac on cherry.