Beeswax finish for band saw box

[Luis Reyes]

Hi,

I made a nice bandsaw box out of walnut and some nice figured red oak that I need to finish. I've been finishing my recent stuff with 100% tung oil but I don't like how it looked on a small piece of walnut (too dark). I'm thinking of using some beeswax / mineral oil I have on hand for cutting boards but want to know what other options I may have?

I also have waterlox, dried shellac flakes to make a blonde shellac or polyurethane (from home depot). I also have some minwax paste wax.

Thanks in advance!

[Jim Becker]

Take a sample of the walnut, sand it to where your project is, and then apply the various options you have on hand to see what gives you the appearance you desire. For a decorative item like you mention, there's not a major concern around "durability" so if pure wax looks great, go for it. If you prefer the beeswax and mineral oil, go for it. If you prefer the look of shellac, BLO, "poly" or whatever, go with that. Looks are subjective for sure. Do keep in mind that walnut generally gets lighter over time and take that into consideration.

[Rich Engelhardt]

One of the few places I like shellac is on something like a box....along with a coat of wax on top.
Just a thin "wash coat" of maybe, 1 or 1.5# cut - then after that & before the wax, rub the whole thing down with a brown paper bag.
A coat or two of wax & you'll have something that just begs to be handled.

Nothing brings out the warmth of walnut quite the same.

[Rob Luter]

I really like oil and wax. This walnut charcuterie board is finished with that process (mineral oil and beeswax). It's silky smooth and has a nice low sheen.

[Luis Reyes]

Thanks for the responses! I’ll probably do the beeswax and mineral oil as I like that look but will experiment in the future with others!