The Framers Forum

I've got a bit of a wood work project on the go and need to finish off the piece with a good durable finish. It's in oak and and needs a easily applied finish which whilst not for use outside can withstand a bit of mud and a little rain water from muddy boots etc something which wipes down easily. can anyone with woodworking experience recommend a finish? Thanks

Quick and easy as requested, I would suggest Polyvine varnish. Dead flat or waxed finish, Lions do a small range of coloured and clear finishes in the waxed finish. A decent specialist decorating suppliers that the trade would use or Axminster Tools also do them waxed and dead flat including exterior finishes but selections will vary.

They are very easy to apply. Prepare your wood and then brush on. Couple of coats minimum depending on durability needed. Can be gently buffed with fine wire wool to give a nice surface texture.

Osmo polyox liquid wax is the dogs danglies, it's what most oc the joinery workshops use for doors finitude and stairs etc.

If it's oak, you don't really need to apply any finish as the wood is so durable. Just wipe it clean when dirty. It should however be well sanded smooth for whatever finish. Any good furniture wax will bring out the colour best, otherwise I would use Rustins Clear Plastic Floor Lacquer, satin from Rest Express. Sounds horrific but produces a beautiful finish on well sanded wood.

For inside I would go with either beeswax or natural tung oil. Both easy to apply, both quality finishes. The tung oil will be a bit tougher as it dries hard and you can layer it up.

My first choice would also be the Polyvine wax finish varnish range. It is very durable and produces a great finish with very little fuss, or bother. For me I find that it works well to apply it in thin coats as this requires very lttle extra effort to smooth the surface.

Another of my favourites is to add a very small amount of danish oil to french polish. Normally you need to apply a wax finish over the french polish to prevent the finish from absorbing moisture from the air and developing the well known french polish "bloom".

However a very small amount of danish oil will render the french polish fully waterproof. If you add too much danish oil, the finish will take too long to fully set, so go carefully and only add a tiny amount, The amount that you need to add is probably a lot less than you might think.

Ahhh I tried mixing Danish oil with French polish years ago and gave up with it, I am guessing I added way to much Danish oil, I still have the concoction under my bench somewhere, might give this another go sometime.

I made some new cappings for my kitchen cabinets using some oak moulding offcuts that just happened to fit right. I finished them with a solvented varnish which might have been Ronseal. (Lost the tin). I prefer a solvent-based varnish to water-based ones. Goes on better and no brushmarks. So far they have stood up well the wet dibbles and splashes inherent in a kitchen environment. 2-3 coats is all you need for a hard finish.

IFGL wrote:I am guessing I added way to much Danish oil

O.K., first things first! I would suggest that the amount of shellac vs solvent in different brands of ready mixed french polish may vary from brand to brand and the same may apply to the formulation of the danish oil. Therefore the amount of danish oil that you can add to any paricular brand of french polish is difficult to determine.

With this thought in mind, I would suggest adding one only teaspoon of Danish oil to a full 250ml bottle of french polish. From memory, I think that my current mix contains two teaspoons, but I will be cautious in what I say, just in case!

My method of usage is to apply the mixture by wiping on with a clean cloth or rag. I then evapourate the solvent by applying heat from a hot air gun. After everything has cooled down to room temperature again, the surface will still feel slightly sticky to the touch, but after a few more minutes (probably two or three minutes) the oil will have hardened and the slight stickiness will have disappeared.

As you may have gathered from some of my other discourses on handfinishing, I am particularly interested in quick and easy finishes and this is a result of an experiment I made to see if this would work and avoid the need to apply a wax finish over the french polish. I have be doing this now for perhaps about two years and it works very well.