Finish for walnut plywood?

[Dean Karavite]

Hello,

Hard to explain, but I'm making a cabinet where the back and shelves will be walnut ply and the rest painted. This plywood was not cheap and looks great and from my perspective does not need to be stained, but maybe darkened a bit and something to "pop" the grain. What should I finish this with? Oil, oil/varnish? I'll admit it right here, I am not a fan of applying anything, probably due to poor results in the past, BUT I'm open to learning about this and who knows, I may become hooked. However, to start I'm looking for simple, uncomplicated and fool proof. Something satin I guess you would say, not glossy. Little or no sun exposure, very little day to day wear.

Thanks in advanced!

[Jim Becker]

Keep it simple. If you don't need something glossy, just use a simple Danish oil product. It will give the "pop" and then provide a soft, satin finish that will look good on the walnut now and as it lightens up with age.

[Dean Karavite]

Oh man, no mixing various products, shellac chips and distilling my own alcohol to mix it with, multiple coats of one thing than another? Not even one acronym like BLO that I don't understand? Gees, I am disappointed. :-)

Seriously, thanks Jim!

This is how much fun this all is. I have two weeks off and when I am not stuffing myself for the holidays all I want to do is build and finish this built in cabinet. Can't wait for vacation to start!

[chris fox]

Look a few posts down regarding walnut finish followup. There are several post specifically for walnut hardwood/plywood.
My recent walnut project i coated with BLO then topped it with 50/50 MS and varnish. Shellac only looks good too, in additon its easy and fast to apply.

[Dean Karavite]

Went to Woodcraft last night and was a little overwhelmed by the choices of oils. Alas, none of the guys working last night knew much about finishes. I ended up buying "Tried and True" Danish Oil, but wasn't sure if I should have bought the Watco.

Are there any sources for "reviews" of all these products? I imagine there are people all over this forum who have different preferences, but at the very least it would be nice to rule out the lousy products.

[Jamie Buxton]

... I ended up buying "Tried and True" Danish Oil....


Tried and True's Danish Oil happens to be BLO -- y'know, one of those acronyms you don't recoginze :). Like the can says, don't flood the wood. Wipe it on with a rag, wetting the rag with the oil, not dumping the oil on the wood and smearing it around. For your application, a couple coats is probably all you need.

[Dean Karavite]

Boiled Linseed Oil?

How about that, I didn't even know it and bought BLO. Is Watco BLO too? What is the best BLO? (sounds like an illegal drug question).

[Jim Becker]

Watco is not BLO, but may have BLO as one of it's original ingredients.

T&T Danish Oil (either the oil-only or oil/wax formulas) are linseed oil polymerized without metallic driers--so it's not exactly the same as garden variety BLO which does contain metallic driers. I use the oil only version quite a bit and use the oil/wax version for decorative items. I do not like their varnish-oil product in the least.

In most cases, if you want just the "pop" and/or color of oil, cheap 'borg BLO is just perfect.

[Casey Gooding]

I like equal parts varnish, BLO and mineral spirits. Wipe it on, let sit 15-20 minutes, wipe off the excess. Apply several coats. It's hard to mess up and looks great.

[Dean Karavite]

Finally got to the point where I applied the first coat of Danish Oil. As someone who was dreading anything to do with finishing, this was a lot of fun. I can see how some people really get into this. Thanks again for the help.

[Dan Karachio]

Since it is on the subject sort of can anyone recommend a good wipe on poly?

[Jim Becker]

Since it is on the subject sort of can anyone recommend a good wipe on poly?

Make your own wiping varnish and skip the poly, too. Take any alkyd or phenolic oil based varnish and cut it 50/50 with mineral spirits...instant wipe-on...and at a lower cost that paying for it already cut. Polyurethane offers no real advantage in furniture and cabinetry situations. It was originally developed for floors where an increase in abrasion resistance was desirable. Polyurethane varnish tends to be cloudy as compared to alkyd or phenolic resin based varnishes and because of the abrasion resistance, it's much harder to rub out the finish, too, if you want to do that.

[Randy Walker]

Hi guy and gals
Im kinda new here but Ive been ww for more than 30 years.
I have to toss my hat in this ring too.
When it comes to finishing walnut I have incredible success with "Watco Danish oil dark walnut". For your application a coat or two will be good enough.

I like to flood it on then sand it in with 220 and let it dry then apply a second coat and give a good wipe down and let dry for a day or two. Then I like to apply shelac but any good finish will do (I have not tried wb). After shelac I like laquer which buff to a brilliant shine.
Also this same routine is equally impressive on cherry.

[Mike Nauman]

Im relatively new to finishing wood, I've been using a lot of shellac, poly and tung oil. I have a project coming up using a ton of walnut and walnut ply for restaurant cabinets/server station etc... Is there a finish anyone recommends for a commercial setting? As always prefer something quick and in expensive if ever possible.

Cheers

[Prashun Patel]

My 2cents:

1) Walnut is hard to get evenly coated with an oil varnish blend. It takes a lot of coats. I'd use a straight wiping varnish. There's no reason you can't use Minwax Wipe On Poly for this. No mix, no muss. It's forgiving. Just wipe it on 'fairly slick but not thick'. You'll need about 5-6 coats. An oil/varnish blend is not brainless to apply on walnut. Some areas will look perfectly rifle-handly slick when dry; others will not. This can cause frustration after several coats. The solution is to just keep applying more and having restraint to keep each coat thin. This is a hard psychological task when beginning (DAMHIKT). Using a straight wiping varnish will get you to an even sheen quicker.

2) For a home use unit, I see no prob using poly - and Minwax poly at that. It's plenty durable. The trick is to apply many THIN coats and to stop when the surface takes an even sheen. That will give you a low build. Not as low as an oil/varnish 'film' but it will not build a high gloss plastic film that people find objectionable with poly. You can basically paint a 1st good wet coat on with a foam brush. Let that soak in. After a few mins if there's pooling, wipe it off. Next coat, wet sand to smooth with 220, using MS or the finish as yr lube; wipe off any slurrry. For all subsequent coats, wipe on a coat about as thick as you might wipe on Pledge to a coffee table.

3) For a commercial job, considerWaterlox Original Sealer Finish. it's a pre-formulated wiping varnish and can be brushed, foampadded, wiped on and it levels great. Waterlox also has a deep amber cast that brings out the color of Walnut a little better than many lighter products. It's also more durable than Poly and if you want to build it up - as is appropriate in a commercial setting, it'll not look plasticky.

I'm a fan of not staining walnut. I don't believe it needs it.

[Scott Holmes]

I've done work in several restaurants. Make sure you use a KCMA certified finish. Inexpensive and high quality (KCMA)are most often, mutually exculsive of each other. The KCMA finish I use, retails for $101/gallon. There are others that cost less but you will not find them at a big box store.

[Mike Nauman]

Thanks that seems like a good idea. 101 a gallon seems like a great price too.

do you spray your finishes? I have always wiped on finishes but feel like it may be worth getting a spray setup going in my shop for bigger projects like this.


I've done work in several restaurants. Make sure you use a KCMA certified finish. Inexpensive and high quality (KCMA)are most often, mutually exculsive of each other. The KCMA finish I use, retails for $101/gallon. There are others that cost less but you will not find them at a big box store.

[Scott Holmes]

Many of the hi-tech finishes are spray only. Really you think $101 a gallon is cheap? FYI the one I use comes in 55 gallon and 5 gallon container only.