To wax or not to wax?

[Guy Dotan]

I just finished a cherry coffee table with Watco Danish oil followed (after a week) by 3 coats of minwax wip on satin poly. I am thinking of applying Johnson's paste wax in top. My only goal is to get a nice satin sheen and a silky surface. Any thoughts? If I do it, how long should I expect it to last?

[Steve Schoene]

Give it a couple of weeks before the wax. The onlybenefit of the wax is cosmetic. Wax will smudge or wear off with physical use. If that occurs more than you want I'd recommend removing all the wax with mineral spirits, scuff sand the Minwax Poly and apply a full brushed on coat of varnish. Then after letting it cure for a month, you can rub it out with a polishing compound or rottenstone to achieve a glossy silky surface. For more satin surface, rub out with fine pumice or rubbing compound.

[Guy Dotan]

The table is a present for my sister and I don't have more than a week or so to wait... also I don't want her to have to worry about maintenance. I would still love to give it a more uniform look and a nice sheen... any other suggestions?

[John K Jordan]

At various times I've used pumice, rottenstone, and 0000 Liberon steel wool to cut a finish back to the sheen I wanted. These were all on wood turnings. I would hesitate to suggest any one of these on your project unless you had a test board already prepared to see if they gave the look you want.

For wax I always apply Renaissance micro-crystalline wax. I like the look and it seems (no rigorous tests!) to hold up better than the paste wax. It is kind of pricy though.

JKJ

[Stan Calow]

wax looks great, temporarily, but its not a maintenance-free finish for something like a coffee table which will get a lot of stuff put on and off all the time. just my opinion.

[Bennett Ostroff]

I would skip the wax. If you want a silky smooth finish, you can wet sand the Danish oil. First sand to 220, then start with 320 waterproof paper and up to 600. Then if you/she decide to ever recoat it with more Danish oil or varnish, you won't have to deal with removing the wax.

[Keith Outten]

I use Johnson's Paste wax and my ROS with a 3M pad to apply the wax. The finish is smooth as glass and it doesn't take hours of rubbing.