Finish Advise Needed

[Kevin Swindle]

I am building a maple and walnut rocking horse for my grandson and wanted to get some suggestions on what type of finish to use. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Lynn Sonier]

I built a rocking horse a couple of years ago and went through the same decision process. I ended up using shellac. A friend had some shellac flakes and he mixed it up for me.

[Eric Apple - Central IN]

I am building a maple and walnut rocking horse for my grandson and wanted to get some suggestions on what type of finish to use. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I would wipe on tung oil. By avoiding film finish, you won't have any chipping and or annoying scraped up film areas. It will also be easy to fix by wiping on more latter. Tung oil also provides some moisture protection.

With shellac, you would also get the easy repair. But you have the scratch and gooey factor in a few years. The shellac will break down with sweaty hands and get sort of gooey. But, it is really easy to repair - just wipe off the goo with alcohol and go to town with more shellac. Dewaxed shellac also provides some moisture protection.

[Phil Phelps]

... oil base poly such as Varathane.

[John Preston]

Waterbased poly looks great on the maple, but doesn't come out worth a darn on walnut. Linseed oil and OB poly look great on walnut but turn maple yellow. OB poly by itself doesn't add the depth and rich color to walnut that the linseed does.

Both are very hard and provide a film finish.

Beware of purchasing "Tung oil" as many sold as such are only thinned varnish or polyurethane.

[Kevin Swindle]

Thanks for the input. It gives me some good ideas. I will let you know how I decide and post some pics of the finished project.

PS. Anyone know anything about Natural Danish Oil? That has been recomended as well.