Finish on Zebrawood & Macassar Ebony

[Bharat Badrinath]

I am done assembling and sanding my Desk i have been building for a while now. It has a Zebrawood top and Legs and Aprons out of Macassar Ebony. I have quite a few finishes that i have been buying every time i visited the store. So want to use them to free up some space. Here are the ones i have
- Boiled linseed oil
- Watco Danish oil
- Bulls Eye Sealcoat
- Shellac
- Arm R Seal
- Water based and Oil based polyurethane in satin and gloss

Have enough of each to apply 3-4 coats. Any advice on the best combination of the above to bring out the contrast in the Zebra wood and Macassar Ebony?

[Joe Chritz]

You really need to do some test boards since each of those has a seperate and distinct look.

BLO isn't really a "finish" as it is primarily for enhancing grain or changing color and impart also no protection. Watco is simply a oil/varnish/thinner mix which adds some protection and simulates a simple oil finish pretty well. Seal coat is a dewaxed shellac that is usually used as a barrier coat before another finish. Shellac is shellac and is a great finish in itself, although not super durable for a table. Arm-R-seal is a urethane finish but isn't like polyurethane you get at the borg. Water and oil base poly is for floors.

My money is on the Arm-R-seal but depending on the "flavor" of your shellac and what kind of durability you want plain shellac may be just the thing you are looking for.

Joe

[Ryan Sparreboom]

I agree about doing test boards.
I have never worked with or finished macassar ebony, but have zebrawood several times.
If I was you, for a desk, I would likely seriously consider BLO on all parts, then topcoat with shellac for the legs and apron, and bullseye sealcoat (which is just dewaxed shellac) for the top, and top that with poly. You're gonna want the durability of poly for a desk top.

My next choice would be danish oil for all of it, and still topcoat with poly on the top only.

Ryan

[Bharat Badrinath]

Thanks. This is helpful. I was planning to do test boards. But given the permutations, wanted to test two or three options max.

So BLO wont darken the Zebra wood - right?

[Jim Becker]

BLO and any oil based product will darken the wood to some degree. Different oils with have different effects...soya oil, used in Pratt and Lambert #38 varnish, for example, is one of the lightest oils. BLO is used most often as a first step, BTW. Most folks don't prefer it as "the" finish because it has very little in the way of "protective" properties. (That said, my wife's cherry desk that I built in 1998 was finished with BLO and wax...is on it's fourth waxing...and looks nearly new)

On using your "inventory" of finishing products, be aware that finishes have a shelf-life and it gets shorter once they are opened in many cases, particularly with oil based varnish products. Keep that in mind as you choose what to use. Old finish may not cure in a reasonable amount of time...or at all in some cases.

I use BLO and de-waxed shellac a lot these days, although most often it gets top coated with a water borne product called USL from Target Coatings. Given your list, however, I'd suggest you test:


BLO, Sealcoat (dewaxed shellac)
BLO, Sealcoat (dewaxed shellac), Arm-R-Seal
Arm-R Seal

Pick what looks best to you and go on from there.

[Bharat Badrinath]

Thanks Jim. Am trying all those combinations and should have an outcome soon.

Luckily most of my inventory are recent purchases. Even the older ones are less than a year old- as old as my hobby. I bought all those when i was in the buy stuff phase, now in the build stuff phase and figuring out how to use the stuff i bought :-).