Easy, clear coat recommendations

[Michael Schuch]

This forum is such a great wealth of information. Thanks Guys!

[Bob Jones 5443]

When I was a child we lived in Japan for a few years. My parents bought an unfinished wooden screen, six feet tall, in three 2-foot hinged sections. The pattern was an intricate, seamless "kumiko" pattern that tessellated throughout the entire screen. It looked something like this, except that all the little slats were the same thickness, about 3/16":

seamless-japanese-pattern-shoji-kumiko.jpg

Each hexagonal unit was about six inches wide. My dad, knowing then about as much as I know now about finishing (close to zilch), received some advice to finish it with "linseed oil." I'll never forget it. First of all, he applied it with a brush. Excruciating. But the kicker was that it took literally weeks to cure enough to bring into the house, and for months afterward it was tacky. That memory of "linseed oil" has stayed with me until this day, when I come to find out that there was just no drying agent in it.

[Allan Speers]

It's called "boiled" because back in the day they used to heat the oil, which changed the molecular structure of the oil, allowing it to more rapidly polymerize. Tried & True, like Jim wrote, uses the heat method.

I never knew this. I thought BLO was still heated.

Well then, definitely go with a polymerized oil. I know from the fine art world that metallic driers make paint less durable, (vs sun-dried or heated oils) so it's surely the same with wood finishes.

Do they still make Tried & True? (like the original.) I used to use it years ago and loved it, but I thought they stopped production, due to some government regulation or something. - Or did they change the formula slightly?

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Regardless, I'm a shellac guy, so that's what I recommend for this project. You cannot beat the look or the feel of the stuff, IMO.
Plus, it sticks to everything, and everything sticks to IT, so you can always put something else over it later, if desired.
For a low sheen, you just hit it with fine steel wool after it's hard.

[Scott Winners]

I will put in plug for soap finish, given the OPs desire for low sheen and no one else has mentioned it yet.

On the plus side it it is quick, non toxic and low gloss.

On the downside it is not very durable, but the guitar stand is mostly going to get looked at, it isn't a cutting board or a floor or a tabletop. Another downside is it dopes represent a bit of committment and it would be hard to remove later to put some other finish on. Several YouTubes out there. I have a foot stool I think in the living room with soap finish on it. I will try to get a photo later today.

[Scott Winners]

I leaned my ukulele against my soap finished saw bench, took several photos, and am just not a very good photographer I guess. What I can see in person and what i can see in the pictures is different. Might try internet searching for soap finish/ images. Sorry.

[Allan Speers]

I will put in plug for soap finish, given the OPs desire for low sheen and no one else has mentioned it yet.

I've neve rused soap, heck I never even heard of this before. (Preyy cool, in a high-maintenance kind of way.)

But 1 minute of Googling turned up this:

"The wood used is always solid because excessive contact with water could lift veneer. It’s also always light in color: usually white oak, ash, beech, maple or pine. A soap finish deadens the rich colors of darker woods such as cherry and walnut."

And of course, Mahogany.

Granted, you can't always trust info on the internet, but I'd test this out first before committing to it.

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I'll once again give a shout out to super-blonde shellac. 2-4 thin coats, followed but fine steel wool after about 24 hours.
No gloss, pops the grain (esp Mahogony) is easy to touch up, and reasonably durable. - Just don't spill your Jack Daniels on it.

[John Lifer]

I love just simple wax finishes on things I'll touch. But they are NOT moisture resistant and offer little to no real protection. I'd probably use a wiping oil, just for simplicity sake. Those would really bring out the wood.

[John TenEyck]

Same as Prashun. Sand it to 600 or higher and then apply a single coat of Danish Oil. Let dry and enjoy. That's how my friend does his Hal Taylor walnut and cherry rockers and they are gorgeous.

John

[Bob Jones 5443]

Taking this all in. Leaning toward the Danish Oil product. I ran across a UK Danish Oil under the Bestwood brand that claims to contain 50% pure tung oil. Is there a benefit to this? I’ve read that most Danish oils contain little or no actual tung oil. I also see that some products called Danish oil contain some linseed oil. So there’s some residual confusion on my part.

[Andrew Seemann]

I tend to associate Danish Oil with linseed oil rather than tung oil, given that they grow flax in Denmark, and Tung comes from China

On a practical level, I don't know that it matters either way. The varnish in the Danish Oil is where the (minimal) protection comes from.

[John TenEyck]

Watco Danish Oil works just fine, whatever is in it. It's a guitar stand - don't over think it.

John