What's Your Favorite Finish??

[Michele Vespi]

Mine's kinda cheesy.. not high tech or cool:( but here goes! Maybe you can chime in with yours!! I really want to try out some new styles this winter, so help a girl out! :p

Step 1: I start with 80 grit and end with 220 making sure to fill any open grains end grain ect.
Step 2: Blow the dust off with the compressor
Step 3: Wipe down with mineral spirits and let dry
Step 4: Apply a liberal coat of Minwax antique oil finish and let sit till it becomes tacky
Step 5: Once it's tacky I buff with an old t-shirt until the tackiness is gone and it seems dry.
Step 6: With a clean cloth i hand rub the project and let it dry for 24 hours
Step 7: Apply another coat and follow steps 4 - 6

276886

[Steve Schoene]

Why 80 grit? That's more coarse than you need unless you have use rough lumber without running in through a jointer or planer. If you hand plane the surfaces you can start and finish with 220. Sanding doesn't fill open grain, it just eliminates tool marks.

Don't let the Minwax get tacky, just let it penetrate for 15-20 minutes and wipe excess off vigorously. You don't want to leave a film on the surface. You can use a slurry of the oil/varnish by wet sanding with 320 grit and use that to at least partially fill open pores and end grain. But remember if you are choosing an oil/varnish finish such as the Minwax Antique Oil you can't really expect a fully filled surface.

[Rich Engelhardt]

I have a lot of "favorites" - mostly depending on the use.

My most recent "favorite" was Minwax Polycrylic.
It worked a little better than ok, but, not as good as fine..if that makes sense.

What I liked about it was:
- Available. A 5 min run to Lowes and a half hour standing in the checkout line & I was all set.
- Cheap - it used to be about $11.00 a quart. Then all of a sudden, like overnight, it shot up to $17.00 a quart.
- The satin finish was super easy to apply. You had to work pretty hard at screwing it up. One of the few things I ever used that I used a foam brush with as a preference.

I'd still be using it if they hadn't raised the price as much as they did.

Another favorite I have is some old McKlosky's Boat Kote spar varnish.
I bought something like 30 gallons of it for some ridiculous price ($3.00 a gallon maybe?) back in 1987 when it was discontinued.
At the time it retailed for about $60.00 a gallon. We sold it for about $40.
Unlike the present spars, the Boat Kote was/is a true marine grade varnish.

It has both a deep high gloss and a deep luster that nothing on the market today can match.

[Brett Robson]

I too have different favorites depending on what I'm making.

For a wiping varnish- Waterlox original or GF Arm-r-seal and Seal-a-cell combo are both good and easy to use. I probably would give the nod to the GF products just because they don't stink up my entire house like the Waterlox does.

For a oil-varnish blend, Watco Danish Oil, at least the natural shade, works really well. I've had mixed results with the colored oils not coloring very evenly so I tend to stay with the natural.

For a spray finish, GF Enduro-var and Varathane's waterborne poly are both pretty good and easy to use. Disclaimer here - I'm not a big spray finisher and have really only tried the hardware store products and a couple GF finishes, so my choices don't take into consideration some of the more specialized commercial finishes that are out there.

For antique type furniture pieces or lower use stuff, I use good old fashioned shellac and wax. With what I build, this is my usual finish of choice. It comes in a variety of shades from garnet to blonde and once you master the learning curve associated with its use, it's really easy and fast to finish a piece.

I might add, I realize while you're asking about top-coat finishes, sometimes the need for coloring comes around. When it does, I pretty much always use a water or sometimes alcohol based dye and shun the pigment stains.

[John TenEyck]

Depends, but I really like Arm-R-Seal when I want a wipe on varnish. It's very easy to use and has very good chemical durability. For spray finishes, I use mostly GF products. I've sprayed many gallons of their High Performance Poly, and it's super easy to spray and looks great. However, it's not as durable as their EnduroVar or Clear Poly products, and those are my products of choice where chemical durability is a concern. EnduroVar had better chemical durability than solvent based poly in my testing. I use EnduroVar, usually over Sealcoat shellac, when I want the look of a solvent based varnish, and the Clear Poly when I want a water clear finish. The Hi Perf. Poly and Clear Poly have very good UV stabilizers in them to prevent aging (yellowing) from light exposure for many years. BTW, all the GF WB products I mentioned brush on beautifully with a foam brush if you can't or don't want to spray them.

For drawer interiors I use Sealcoat shellac, wiped on, or GF's Hi Perf. Poly if I have to produce a high sheen.

John

[Stan Calow]

MV for things that are going to be handled or touched, like a box, ornament or decorative I like to sand up to the highest grit I can find 2000-4000-12000 (auto finish sandpaper). Then either no finish, or plain oil. It gives a great hand feel to things, in tight grain woods.

[Alan Lilly]

Sam Maloof's poly / oil finish from rockler. Outstanding results if your patient and follow the directions on the can exactly. 4 coats carefully applied over 4 days produced the best results I have ever achieved for a finish.

Mot important tip when applying... don't try to shortcut to only 320 grit... you must go all the way to 400 grit.
I recommend you don't waste your time trying to mix your own... a quart from rockler will last a long long time because it is applied in 4 very thin layers. I finished 2 medium walnut bookshelves with half a pint.

Previously, my favorite was shellac finish applied in a french polish technique.

The Maloof finish is what I have been searching for over the last 8 years.

[Shawn Pixley]

Different favorites for different items. Outdoors - Epifanes or System 3 Spar varnish. Furniture - Waterlox. Boxes - Shellac (color depends upon wood). Guitars - Instrument Lacquer. Floors - Poly.

[Alan Lilly]

Different favorites for different items. Outdoors - Epifanes or System 3 Spar varnish. Furniture - Waterlox. Boxes - Shellac (color depends upon wood). Guitars - Instrument Lacquer. Floors - Poly.

Great point Shawn! I agree... I LOVE Epifanes for outdoor!

[Malcolm Schweizer]

+1 for Epifanes. Absolutely gorgeous stuff. It goes on with a brush as smoothly as if you sprayed it. I started using it on boats, but like it so much that I use the semigloss interior version for most interior furnture projects. Also the Goldspar spar varnish has this amazing golden glow that I love and I will often use it just for that aspect, even if it's not an exterior project. Definately Epifanes semigloss is my go-to finish.

For my workbench I made a finish from beeswax, linseed oil, and pure gum turpentine. It is another favorite.

[glenn bradley]

For indoor items that do not experience high wear I favor shellac and paste wax. For a more rugged finish I use an oil/varnish blend. For a roller-rink finish on children's table tops or thresholds/walking areas, I will resort to a poly.

[Michele Vespi]

Thank you all for the replies! I haven't had much time (with the holidays) to visit. I'll be back this evening with a few questions on some of the "recipes" thank you all!

[Prashun Patel]

I find that having a favorite prejudices one from becoming facile with others. Learning how to spray finishes, wipe on or brush on varnishes, apply oil finishes, and apply shellac (I'm partial to padding) are great skills to develop.

A lot of people give short shrift to finishing, and dread it. We tend to think about finishing primarily in terms of durability or appropriateness for a particular function. However, the finish is what most observers will be drawn to. It draws them in and invites them to touch it. In this sense, a finish for me is primarily an aesthetic choice. Picking a 'go-to' finish is a little like choosing a 'go-to' wood. Each has their artistic merit.

That being said, I do have preferences:

Larger casework with a lot of surfaces or colored pieces: Spraying satin deft lacquer.
Bowls and turned work: shellac, applied on the lathe.
Furniture in walnut: Waterlox Original Sealer Finish (Original formula)
Furniture in most other woods: (Arm-R-Seal or Minwax poly) + MS + (optional) BLO wiped on/wiped off.

Last, it's common advice to say sanding past 150, 180, or 220 is a waste of time and paper. That's for thick film and pigment stained pieces. For thinly finished pieces (and for lightly used furniture or delicate items, a thin finish can be appropriate), I encourage you to experiment sanding up to 400g. I find that it helps the look and FEEL of the final product tremendously.

[Michele Vespi]

Whelp I have couple slabs of cherry and walnut that were discards when i was setting up the woodmizer. They were going to be firewood but perhaps I'll practice some new finishing techniques! Some people dread finishing but i think it's my favorite part!

Allen Lilly: There's a Rockler not to far from home I may take a ride and pick up
Sam Maloof's oil and try that. I sorta feel in love with the Minwax antique oil but from what you say this might be the ticket!







Brett Robson: I have some Watco on hand but haven't tried it yet!!

Prashun Patel: I will try the 400g on a piece of walnut and hit it with some waterlox like you suggested!

Thank you all for your input! I can't wait to start the new year off with some fun finishes!!

[Chuck Darney]

Shellac.

I like to apply at least one coat, maybe two, of Zinsser dewaxed shallac at full strength. Wait a day or two to let it fully harden then lightly sand it with 320. Just enough to "knock off the shiny" and flatten the brush strokes and streaks. Then I apply thin coats of shellac - about 1lb cut (or 50/50 Zinsser/DNA) - with wadded soft cloth. It usually takes three or so coats to make sure all of the project is covered. These coats can be applied 20 or 30 minutes apart.

If you don't like the "shiny" look, a coat of paste wax will take the edge off.

I like the look.

...Chuck

[Jim Becker]

The actual final finish I prefer depends upon the item's intended use. For decorative items, I'll often use BLO and wax. Sometimes, BLO and shellac. For furniture, typically BLO, shellac and then a water borne top coat sprayed.