Finish for maple dining room table

[Jason Slutsky]

I have a maple Queen Anne stowleaf dining room table that I've stripped, sanded, and stained. The top and leaves will be getting finish. The legs and sides will be painted a semi-gloss black.

I'd like some opinions on what would be a good finish for it. I'd like something relatively easy to apply but also something that will be durable. I planned on using multiple coats of Watco Danish oil. If you agree, how many coats...5, 10, more?

I would like to stay away from spray on finishes.

Also, after whatever finish you recommend, what after care do you suggest.

[Steve Schoene]

Oil/varnish finishes remain a bit more susceptible to water spotting than a varnish. You could use a wipe on varnish such as Waterlox Original/Sealer to get quite a bit more protective without having to build it up to a really thick coating. The sheen for this is about at the semi-gloss level.

[Jason Slutsky]

Steve,

I read a bit more about Waterlox and it looks like an excellent product. One person said that he uses two coats...sanding the second coat with 800-1000 and then uses some Auto Rubbing compound to bring out a little more shine then the stock semi-gloss. Have you ever tried this?

[Steve Schoene]

If I am understanding what your friend proposes, it is two coats of Original/Sealer followed by one coat of the Satin sheen Waterlox. If that's right, there isn't any point in buffing with compound between coats. You would want to remove defects in the lower coats, but I would do that with light sanding with 320 grit. Sanding with higher grit, and especially buffing, before the final coat just reduces adhesion of that final coat and has little or no effect on the final appearance compared to using 320 or 400 at the finest.

Waterlox can be lightly buffed to alter the sheen levels. Two coats wiped on is not very much, less than one coat of brushed on varnish. For a satin sheen, and minimal build, I'd still put on another coat of the original/satin, sand smooth, and then count on using 2 wiped on coats of the satin to get more even sheen. It's still a pretty thin coating.

[Jason Slutsky]

Steve,

The more I read about Waterlox, the more I like it. Now just to find it. I've given up locally and plan on ordering it directly.

You mentioned two types? I was going to go with the Waterlox Original Satin for the whole thing. The person who mentioned buffing with rubbing compound was talking about only doing this on the last coat with the purpose of bringing out more shine. Not sure if this will actually work or not...satin should be enough shine for what I want.

As for coats, I imaging I'd be putting on at least three, more likely 5. Sanding between only to remove defects as you said. Then I may buff the final coat.

I appreciate your help

Jason

[Steve Schoene]

Actually there are three flavors of the basic Waterlox product. There is a Gloss, which is quite glossy (and would need a bit of thinning for best wiping), there is the Original/Sealer which has semi-gloss gloss sheen--very mellow and nice, and there is also a Satin which is considerably duller. Stay with the Original/Sealer and you will get a nice low gloss. Buffing could increase the sheen, but if you really want shiny go with the Gloss and buff down a bit.