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Saturday, August 23, 2014

Applying the Final Finish to the Table

The past few days I have been experimenting with the final finish for the table.  I have heard a lot about Tried and True finish but have never "tried" it.  It is basically a linseed oil and bees wax mixture.  It  is fairly easy to apply by following the directions on the can.
You can only put on one coat per day, so it took 3 days for me to get to this point.  Waterlox is similar in speed (one per day) but it is quite different in mix.  Waterlox has tung oil and linseed oil and other secret ingredients.
Here is a piece of the top with 3 coats of Waterlox on one side and 3 coats of Tried & True on the other.

At this point they look about the same.  I will continue to add more coats since I am interested what will happen with the Tried & True.  I know what happens with the Waterlox.
Eventually, the Waterlox stops absorbing into the wood and settles on the surface to create a film.  I keep sanding with 600 grit to make it smooth and reduce the shine.
I have decided to use the Waterlox because I like a little bit of a shine on my furniture,  not like what it looks like if you only use danish oil.

So I rubbed out the dye on the table with white Norton non-woven pad, it is softer than 0000 steel wool and not a messy.  This knocked off the nubs and burnished the finish.
Then I applied an average coat of Waterlox ( not thin not thick) with a cotton cloth.  Within five minutes it had soaked into the wood.

Here is what it looked like about an hour later.
So tomorrow I'll rub it out and put on the next coat.
Here is today's video:

1 comment:

  1. Wow, 7 days! It's looking good. You'll be able to get in a lot of bike miles between coats.

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