Top coat blanket chest

[Richard Ferment]

:)
I have just completed a Blanket chest made of White oak ply. with all edges and moldings of Black Wallnut. I will wait untill final finish to do the aromatic red
cedar bottom. I have done the boiled linseed oil. Am now waiting for it to dry.
I am thinking of using Waterlox for finnish. Since I havent used this before I have a couple questions for those who are more familiar with it.
Which one do I use. Do I start with the sealer or can I go straight to the gloss. Will I have to seal it with Shellac to keep the smell out of the inside of the chest.
This chest is to be a gift. I want to thank all of you in advance for your help. I realy appreciate it
:)

[Steve Schoene]

I presume the BLO has only been applied to the exterior. If so when it cures you can apply Waterlox directly to it. But do NOT put Waterlox, or any other oil based finish on the inside. (And put no finish, including shellac, on the aromatic cedar.) Interiors of such chests generally need no finish.

If you have but BLO or oil based finish on the interior, shellac would have the best prospects of sealing in the odor. I'd put on two or three coats of two pound cut shellac. (The oil based smell won't penetrate from the exterior into the interior so you don't have to worry about that.)

I would start the Waterlox with the original/sealer. For one thing it has been thinned to wipe on easily, and secondly, I suspect you may like the look just as it is, since it builds to a very nice mellow gloss finish. Not high gloss, but you would never mistake it for satin.

[Tim Solley]

Richard,

I've used Waterlox over BLO on several projects now and I really do love it. I have only used the original sealer/finish and I think it's plenty glossy. I've attached a couple pictures of a blanket chest/ottoman I built a few weeks ago and it's finished with BLO and the sealer only.

And yeah, whatever you do, don't put anything on the inside of the chest. I finished a bookcase 6 weeks or so ago with Waterlox and it's still offgassing (in a closed room though). The ottoman doesn't smell anymore in the open living room.

Oh, and on this ottoman I sprayed on the Waterlox. It seems most haven't tried this, but I got great results with it. So if you have a spray setup, you could give it a try if you want to.

Good luck, post pictures when it's finished!

Tim

EDIT: Ok, looks like you can't post pictures again. Here's the link to my original topic with pictures of the ottoman:
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=36282