BB Plywood Clear

[Mike Burke]

I am making a Rob Cosman work bench with laminated BB base trestle legs and stretchers .
I would like to put a Clear finish coat on them to protect and seal them. What would be a good product for a Clear coat ?

I am planning on rolling this finish on. And using a Satin or Flat finish.

Water Base product or Oil ?
Seal coat first (sanding sealer or similar product ) ?

Just a work bench so It doesn't have to be perfect.

Thanks

[John TenEyck]

I often finish Baltic birch plywood. I usually spray a coat of Sealcoat shellac followed by one or another WB clearcoat, like GF's Enduro Clear Poly, High Performance, etc. I wouldn't try to roll on any of these products, however. You can wipe on Sealcoat and you can brush on High Performance with good results.

If you want a fast and stupid simple finish to use you might consider Rubio Monocoat or Osmo PolyOx. I recently used Rubio on a walnut and Baltic birch cabinet and it worked great. One coat and done. I know it looks expensive but it's not.

John

[mike stenson]

I avoid film finishes on workbenches, because it makes them slippery. At most I'll use a linseed oil/turpentine mix. I'd do the same, regardless of the species.

edit: the film finish would also get trashed in a short amount of time in my shop.

[Jim Becker]

Pretty much "anything" will work just fine. Oil based if you want the ambering and waterborne if you want nearly zero color shift. What you use really doesn't matter. "Sanding Sealer" is a profit making thing and there's no reason to use it. (The exception being vinyl sealer often used with solvent based lacquers for a specific purpose) I actually often use "scrap" finish for projects like this...remainders of finish from other projects.

[Mike Burke]

I actually often use "scrap" finish for projects like this...remainders of finish from other projects.

Sheesh Jim

I want it to look nice :)

JK

I figured it's not really going to matter what product I use....it'll stick and serve the purpose. I have is sanded pretty good so it should be ok with a wipe on or brush.

As long as I don't get one of those plywood veneer splinters that come off in an instant under your sandpaper pad. I switched from a cork pad and paper to a sanding sponge. That seemed to help with the splinters.

Thanks

[John TenEyck]

Those splinters are my bane when working with BB plywood. The best approach I've found is to use sandpaper wrapped around a sanding block and to always sand with the edge that's wrapped around the block so it won't catch on those slivers you can't see.

John

[Jim Becker]

It really does come down to "what color", Mike. Amberish?...oil based. Native color?...waterborne. Whichever you choose, sand smooth, put on one coat and let it dry thoroughly. Lightly abrade with 320/400 to knock off any fizzies and then put one or two more coats on. Done. But yea...be careful sanding any sharp edges, especially with plywood products! (or wood species known to splinter)