Oak Finish

[Mike Hill]

I am getting to the point where I need to apply a finish to a Craftsman Style Toy Chest/ Blanket chest for my daughter Sara's twins first birthday. It is made of BORG purchased oak and oak plywood. She would like it lighter rather than darker with a smooth finish. Oak tends to look "rough" in my experience (which is very limited). Any suggestions on an easy finish would be appreciated. Should I apply a sealer first?
Thanks
Mike

[Nancy Laird]

Mike, spray it with a lacquer-based sanding sealer, smooth with 400 grit paper, then spray on 3 or 4 coats of clear lacquer. You'll keep that beautiful color and grain, and plenty of protection for the wood. The nice thing is that if it gets scratches in the finish (which it will!) you can rough it up with a little 400-grit and respray another coat, and it will look as good as new.

If you really want to add some color, just wipe on a coat of Moser's natural before the sanding sealer. That will really pop the grain.

That oak may look "rough" when you use this method, but I can tell you from several years of experience in using this process on furniture in my home that the finished product will be as smooth as a baby's bottom---or an ice rink.

Nancy

[Steve Schoene]

Sealers aren't needed for most clear finishes, other than a few high tech spray finishes such as conversion varnishes.

Oak takes stain well--it doesn't need a "conditioner" to avoid blotching like pine would need.

The first thing to do is to test this on scraps of both the ply and the solid wood to see whether the solid and plywood take the finish similarly. If not, then I would first try a basic "golden oak" stain, and again test to see if this pulls the colors of the solid and ply together. If this still looks odd you would want to begin with a mixed with water aniline dye. You can make it light or dark by how concentrated you mix it. This should tend to pull the two kinds of wood together.

Then, with the coloration worked out, there are two approaches that make sense to me. First, is to use an "in-the-wood" finish based on an oil/varnish mix such as Watco. This doesn't build up a film on the surface and leaves a natural smooth looking finish. It's easy to apply--wipe on, and wipe off all the excess. The only tricky part is that on oak the finish tends to want to bleed out of the pores for a considerable period of time. The solution for this is simple. Apply the first coat early in the day, and check the surface every half hour to wipe off any bleeding before it can dry on the surface, leaving shiny spots aroung the pores. After the first coat or two this bleeding should no longer occur.

The alternative is to use a pore filler, which will act as a stain as well, to give a very smooth, formal look. This always is used under a film finish, such as varnish or shellac. Some people try to fill the pores by "sanding in" a oil/varnish or oil finish to create a slurry of finish an sanding dust that is supposed to pack the pores. This can work well with finely pored woods such as walnut and mahogany, but with oak, the pores are very large and this method doesn't really work very well.

The look that I very much don't like is just applying a varnish directly on the wood, or on stained or dyed wood, without the pore filler. This gives a finish where the grain becomes emphasized through variations of the surface, a look that I find cheap looking. This may be what you have seen to be "rough".

[Howard Acheson]

Let me just add, the you want to avoid using any oil or oil based finish on the inside of the boxes. Oil finishes off-gas almost forever and the odor will permeate any cloth or clothing item. Use either nothing at all, or use shellac or a waterborne finish on the inside.

[Jason King]

Then why not use BLO. It will add very little color, and keep things nice and light. Over the BLO you could use a blond shellac, and then wax. If the chest isn't going to get heavy use, you could always skip the shellac and just use BLO and wax. It doesn't get much easier than that. I would also reaffirm that you shouldn't use any oil based finish inside the box. Shellac, wax, and almost any water based finish would be fine, but avoid oil on the inside. Good luch with the chest. Let us know how it comes out.

[Bill VanderLaan]

I have had good success with BLO, followed by a simple wiping varnish. Color is nice and warm, but not dark. Usually do three or four coats and then rub it down with 0000 steel wool. I echo the "no BLO" inside statements too.

[Mike Hill]

Thanks to all of you for the wonderful replies. Not sure what approach I Will take, but there is enough here for me to try.
Thanks Again
Mike