Stain, Oil, Poly on Reloading Maple Bench?

[Patrick Irish]

I stocked up several cans of Minwax Wipe On Poly, sedona oil based stain and gallons of water Poly and oil Poly during a close out. I have a large 2" maple reloading bench that's unfinished. I noticed the other day dirt was getting in between the boards. I don't do much pounding on that bench, maining reloading and cleaning of guns.

I don't NEEEEEDDD to finish the bench but I kinda want to. What would be best to use, a poly, a stain, shellac, oil?

I'm a little confused on the difference between a minwax sedona oil based stain compared to a tung oil or linseed oil. Would the sedona oil based stain provide a protection of some sort after a couple coats?

I also have a quart of Watco Danish Oil Light Walnut.

[Prashun Patel]

The oil stain's main job is coloring. It contains a small bit of varnish - just enough to lock in the color to the wood, but not so much as to offer much protection. You would then topcoat that stain after it dries with a 'clear coat / top coat' like the water or oil poly. Now, if you use water poly, you need to really let that stain dry well, or else the residual oil solvent will prevent the water poly from drying smoothly.

Tung and linseed oils get rubbery when they dry. They offer modest protection and would serve as the top coat. However, they wear away quickly and need to be re-applied. But they're praised because they're so darn easy to apply.

If you don't care about coloring the wood, you can apply the oil poly or water poly over the raw wood for a fine protection. Some people don't like the film that these things develop because if you nick it, it's hard to repair. But it's fairly tough.

For benches, a popular treatment is an oil/varnish blend. You mix equal parts linseed or tung + OIL poly + mineral spirits. Wipe it on. let it sit for a couple minutes. Wipe it off. Do this once a day for 2-3 days, and you'll get a protective finish that's in between poly and oil in terms of durability and can be refreshed every so often if you need to. In fact your Watco Danish oil is exactly that (with some color added).

[Patrick Irish]

The watco I think might be old but it's worth using. Thanks for the clarification of the different types.

[Scott Holmes]

WARNING

The Watco has stain added... maple will most likely get a very blotchy color. If you want color better to dye it first then apply the oil/varnish blend AKA Danish Oil.

[lee cox]

I just refinished my outfeed table and workbench. I started with a linseed oil coat. I then created a mixture of linseed oil, turpentine and beeswax. I then put a couple of coats of this on. I wanted something so glue would not stick. The outfeed table I buffed heavy and the workbench I only buffed lightly. The outfeed table is soild maple and it turned a nice honey color which I like better than just the linseed oil finish. I wanted boards to slip on the outfeed table but not on the workbench. I like the smell of the beeswax. I am no expert but I like it so far. I dripped some glue on the workbench and it came right off. The outfeed table is slick but I have had some finsh drip on it and stick so it does not repel as well as the workbench does. I like it better than my old tung oil finish.

[Jim Becker]

Watco can also go bad once opened, meaning it may not cure. The shelf-life for the product is not "really long" once opened.