Finishes for lacewood?

[Dan Forman]

I'm looking for a finish for a bookrack now under construction. I've read that BLO is not a good finish for lacewood because it is so porous that it will continue to "weep" for a good long time, and take forever to dry. I would also like to preserve some of the light pinkish color and chatoyance for the wood, and some examples of finished lacewood I've seen are quite a bit darker and more one dimensional than the raw wood. Thanks in advance for any ideas.

Dan

[Bob Reda]

Dan,

I've used target usb and it came out pretty good. using their sealer and such.

Bob

[Dan Forman]

Is that a spray finish? I don't have a gun, tried a couple of wiping varnishes and they seemed to work well on a sample, so I guess I'll go with one of them. There was really no detectable difference between them.

Dan

[Mike Null]

I got a very nice result with wipe on poly. Only after I wiped it on and on and on and more.

[Dennis Peacock]

Dan,

You can thin tung oil 50% with mineral spirits and wipe that on nice and thin, just enough to show the character of the wood and not near enough to cause weeping. Just my 2¢. :D

[Dan Forman]

Dennis---Do you prefer that to a wipe on poly? I have some Lee Valley tongue oil that I haven't used yet for anything.

Dan

[Tim Sproul]

I've used garnet shellac on lacewood. It gives that "quite a bit darker and more one dimensional than the raw wood" look that you describe. At least I can help you avoid one finish.....:)

[Alex Shanku]

I just finished a table top in lacewood and got great results using a couple coats of 2lb shellac followed by 4 coats of satin waterbased poly.