How to finish

[rdatelle]

Hi everyone, I just finished this piece for my teacher friend and I was wondering what finish to put on it. I usually use a few coats of poly but I was wondering if something better would work. This is 1/4 inch oak with a 1/8 BB backer painter black. This is the teacher I was telling you about that's getting her Doctors degree in December. Do you think this is a good piece to give for that occasion. I was going to give this to her for xmas but I can always make her something small, like an ornament. Suggestions please. Thanks Ralph.

[MTCowpoke22]

Looks good. I just use a poly spray for all of my fretwork type projects as well.

[ike]

I agree with cowpoke 

IKE

[rdatelle]

I guess that's what I'll do to. Why change now. Thanks guys.

[Scrolling Steve]

That will be well received Ralph !.....Very nice !

[Debi Shipman]

That is amazing!  I'm sure your friend will love it. 

[Lucky2]

Nicely done Ralph, I'm sure your teacher friend will appreciate owning it. Seeing as how it is made out of solid oak, will you be adding a backer to this piece? I usually apply a coating of BLO to pop the grain, then after a couple of days of drying I apply either a coating of lacquer or poly as a finish.

Len

[WayneMahler]

Great job. I would be happy to receive something like this. Hats off to you.

[Ron Johnson]

Your teacher friend will guaranteed be estatic when you present this beautiful cross to her. A poly finish should be just fine. Well done.

[lawson56]

I agree stick with what works best for you.  And your Teacher Friend is gonna Love it.It is Awesome!  

[Dave Monk]

Looks great Ralph! dave

[rdatelle]

Len, I never thought of putting BLO first, then poly. I'll give that a try. Thanks everyone for all the comments.

[hawkeye10]

Ralph I would use Watco Danish Oil. They make one for oak and a natural. Just test on another piece of oak. You can get it at Home Depot. It's so easy to use just wipe or brush it on and let it dry then put another coat on. This is a finish you can't mess up even if you tried. What is not to like about that? 

[Bill WIlson]

Anymore, I use shellac almost exclusively for scrolled projects.  You can buy it in flake form to mix your own, or it's readily available already pre-mixed and in spray cans.  I like it because it dries so quickly and is easy to clean up.  No problems with overspray and the slight odor isn't unpleasant (to me anyway) and dissipates quickly.  For a piece like that, I would dip it in BLO to get into all those tight, deep frets, as well as accentuate the grain.  That way, if you can't get the top coat in there, it doesn't look unfinished.   Spray shellac goes on very thin and is ideal for fretwork, because it dries so fast, you can hit the piece from multiple angles to get as much coverage as possible on the edges, without getting too much build up, risking puddles and runs.

 

Nice cutting.  I'm sure she'll appreciate it very much.

[hawkeye10]

Anymore, I use shellac almost exclusively for scrolled projects.  You can buy it in flake form to mix your own, or it's readily available already pre-mixed and in spray cans.  I like it because it dries so quickly and is easy to clean up.  No problems with overspray and the slight odor isn't unpleasant (to me anyway) and dissipates quickly.  For a piece like that, I would dip it in BLO to get into all those tight, deep frets, as well as accentuate the grain.  That way, if you can't get the top coat in there, it doesn't look unfinished.   Spray shellac goes on very thin and is ideal for fretwork, because it dries so fast, you can hit the piece from multiple angles to get as much coverage as possible on the edges, without getting too much build up, risking puddles and runs.

 

Nice cutting.  I'm sure she'll appreciate it very much.

I agree Bill shellac is a good top coat. I use Bulls Eye brand spray cans that you can buy at most places. In the spray cans it is also wax free which is important when putting it over other things like Watco Danish. It will turn the project a little darker like maybe an amber color. I think the amber tone makes it look better in most cases. As always test first if you don't already know what it will look like. Testing is very important.  

[Bill WIlson]

Actually de-waxed shellac is critical, primarily when used underneath a top coat of polyurethane.  Poly doesn't bond well to itself, much less other finishes, so if one is using shellac as a sealer or barrier coat and intend to top coat with poly, then you should use de-waxed shellac.  In spite of this one exception, shellac (waxed or de-waxed) is very versatile as a barrier/binder between otherwise incompatible finishes or where oils or stains might bleed through other finishes.  To my knowledge, there isn't much of anything that shellac (waxed or de-waxed) won't stick to.

[RangerJay]

That is a great looking project very well cut.

 

No one has mentioned stain as a possible choice.  My own go to stain for Oak is always Minwax Early American - followed by a number of coats of semi-gloss polyurethane, buffed and waxed.  The stain, at least in my view, gives any Oak project a particularly nice warm character.

 

 

Jay 

[amazingkevin]

Hi everyone, I just finished this piece for my teacher friend and I was wondering what finish to put on it. I usually use a few coats of poly but I was wondering if something better would work. This is 1/4 inch oak with a 1/8 BB backer painter black. This is the teacher I was telling you about that's getting her Doctors degree in December. Do you think this is a good piece to give for that occasion. I was going to give this to her for xmas but I can always make her something small, like an ornament. Suggestions please. Thanks Ralph.

Perfect choice ! You couldn't have done better !!!

[bronx]

Great pattern. Did you create the pattern yourself...?

 

Awesome cutting.

[rdatelle]

Wow! Great ideas. Don, I never thought of the Danish oil. I have a can of that to. I'll have to try that next time. With this piece, I went with the BLO and spray poly. I'll put a pic on when I'm done. Thanks agin for all the tips.