What finish for an aspen lamp?

[Kurt Misner]

Hey all,
I'm excited about turning a lamp out of aspen for our guest room which has a mountain theme to it. This is no ordinary piece of aspen though. I bought it from the old general store in St. Elmo, an old gold mining ghost town (st-elmo dot com). It was in their old shed and looked to be about 100 years old but I can't say for sure. It was definitely very dry, and very soft and prone to tearing. I finally was able to get it to work and it came out just as I had hoped. There are worm holes, stains, and a nice knot, all of whick give it a very rustic look.

So, my question:
What finish would you suggest for this old piece of wood? Oil, satin poly over shellac? Something else?

There's someone who turns vases very similar to this out of fresh wood and sells them at the local tourist attractions like 7 Falls, and Garden Of The Gods. He finishes his in a hard glossy top coat. I'd like the grain to be deep, but don't have confidence in getting a good blemish free gloss. I'm thinking shellac sanding sealer, with clear satin poly on the top. This is what I used for the birch and aspen cabinetry I built into the room and it worked well. I'll try post a picture tonight.

Thoughts? Any experience with this wood?

[Al Wasser]

I usually use lacquer on my aspen bowls. It really depends on the loock you want. Oil finishes(Danish, etc) tend to turn the white wood a little yellow. If that is ok then oil finishes will also work well.

[Kurt Misner]

I usually use lacquer on my aspen bowls. It really depends on the loock you want. Oil finishes(Danish, etc) tend to turn the white wood a little yellow. If that is ok then oil finishes will also work well.

Thanks for the suggestion. My only experience with lacquer is knowing that vintage Fender guitars were sprayed with it. It had a tendancy to check (crack). I think it's use in production was banned in California due to the fumes. Is it available for the woodworker, and would it have to be sprayed on?

[Al Wasser]

Deft makes a wiping lacquer that works well. I thin it about 50-50(lacquer thinner) and put on several coats. It dries VERY fast. You can also use the rattle can spray lacquer. You might give it a try on something before trying these on your lamp.

[Malcolm Tibbetts]

For a nice "soft" non-glossy look, water-based poly is my choice. I think it would look good on aspen.

[Kurt Misner]

Thanks for the suggestions! Here's a couple back pics of the unfinished lamp:


Here's the room it's going into. I built the cabinet over the sump pump in the corner, and the bookshelves. I'll be building doors for the bottom cabinet under the book shelves to hold bedding for the spare bed. The cabinets are birch plywood with aspen face, door frames, and shelf edging. By the way, the carved spoonbill duck is an absolutely amazing piece by master carver Dan Heiman in Big Bear City California. I spent an afternoon with him listening to his stories and paid him hamsonly and took the spoonbill duck home. It truely is a one of a kind piece I'm extremely proud to own. Don, if you're out there, send me a pm. I'd like to touch base with you again.

[Jim Burr]

Catalyzed Lacquer is widely used in Ca. My BIL uses it for all his custom cabinets.

[Kurt Misner]

Catalyzed Lacquer is widely used in Ca. My BIL uses it for all his custom cabinets.

I stand corrected. I know that guitar manufacturers like Fender were forced to move away from lacquer (not sure which type) years ago and started going with a polyester coating. This was to the lament of musicians at the time because they felt the thicker and softer poly would mute the instruments inherent resonance. Hence came the crazy high prices for vintage lacquered guitars (of which I own none). Thanks for the insight. I have to admit, I'm still in a learning mode with woodworking and especially turning.

[Don Alexander]

personally i would go with the same finish you used on the rest of the room unless you aren't happy with the way it looks , but from the pics it looks good to me just my 2 cents