What's the best finish for...?

[Andy Korfin]

I am going to make a outdoor table from the Walnut top and ??? legs (not sure what they are), shown below.

But I want to get your opinion on what is the best way to protect it in order to preserve the natural look of the wood.

I'm looking for the best clear coat to do this...Thanks, Andy

237786

[Prashun Patel]

If you want to spend some $$, the best outdoor film type of varnish is a marine varnish. If you want to spend less then you can use a Spar Varnish, but you'd do best to keep the table covered during rain and to take it in for the winter. Ultimaltely, a spar will require rework, but you can reduce the frequency by protecting it from the elements. If it were me, I'd just put an outdoor rated oil finish on it, and reapply every year.

Walnut will fade over time. It'll be hard to prevent that. You can stymie that by keeping it out of direct sunlight when possible.

Your big challenge here will be keeping that top from cracking. That type of cut is prone to developing radial splits/checks out from the pith of the log. I can see some checking around the pith has already started.

[John TenEyck]

Epifanes Marine Varnish is about the best, with UV additives to help prevent degradation of the varnish. It costs about $45/qt, and takes 7 coats if you follow the directions. It's done really well for me on a black locust bench that I leave out year round; however, I did have to do some touch up after 3 years and recoated the whole thing once as well in the 4 or 5 years it's been done.

John

[Jim Becker]

Almost any wood species will fade and gray/silver out in outdoor settings, even with finish that has UV protection. Nature of the beast.

You've already received some good suggestions for film finishes that are appropriate for outdoors. Do note that walnut isn't a particularly good species for outdoor use so it's lifetime will not be "really long". Keeping it under cover will help in that respect as will putting stand-offs on the bottom of the legs so they don't wick up moisture directly from your deck surface.

[Andy Korfin]

Guys thanks for all of the suggestions...I'll upload pix after I finish.

Andy

[John TenEyck]

Almost any wood species will fade and gray/silver out in outdoor settings, even with finish that has UV protection. Nature of the beast.



In my experience, as long as the film finish remains unbroken the wood underneath will not turn grey/silver over time. That only happens if the film is compromised and water is allowed to penetrate into the underlying wood. Fading will occur, however, for some woods (like walnut) if the finish is not maintained per the manufacturer's recommendation of recoating. For the pieces I have made and finished with Epifanes the black locust darkerened over the first year and has remained pretty constant since that time. Over their 5 year life the only grey/silver areas were where the finish ruptured. A simple sanding back to raw wood and recoating has brought those areas back into good color match with the rest of the pieces.

John