Easy finishes for shop furniture?

[Jason White]

Since I'm pretty new to finishing furniture projects, I thought maybe I"d "practice" on some shop furniture to get the kinks out. We're talking about stuff that's mostly fir plywood and 2x4's -- nothing fancy.

After staining, what's the easiest type of clear finish to apply? I'd prefer something that doesn't require sanding/scuffing between coats? Also not a big fan of water-based finishes because they dry before I can chase the drips I inevitably make.

Suggestions?

Jason

[Peter Quinn]

All of my "Shop Furniture", ie simple items for utility use, are finished with a mixture of sawdust, butt sweat, palm grease, paint over spray, cob webs etc. An amalgam of whatever happens to fall on them over time. Don't think I have ever tried to put a decent finish on a shop piece or even a rough prototype. Best case a coat of butchers wax on a table top.

As far as easy, I'd say padding on a couple of coats of shellac then wax, or some type of oil based wipe on finish is probably the easiest I can think of and thus one of my favorites. Tung oil, BLO, minwax wipe on poly (or similar), danish oil, some home brew of varnish, thinner, tung oil and drier. Brushing is a bit more challenging, takes more time and skill but can make a fine finish with more build quicker than wipe ons if you're game. I don't see too much point to to get into color on 2X4 furniture unless the actual final work will be in the same species (fir, YP, spruce etc) so I'd probably skip the stain, save that for sample boards of finer work. Unless you would prefer the aesthetics of the shop better with the furniture stained, then of course go for it.

[Jason White]

Do you use the oil-based "butt sweat," or the water-based??

All of my "Shop Furniture", ie simple items for utility use, are finished with a mixture of sawdust, butt sweat, palm grease, paint over spray, cob webs etc. An amalgam of whatever happens to fall on them over time. Don't think I have ever tried to put a decent finish on a shop piece or even a rough prototype. Best case a coat of butchers wax on a table top.

As far as easy, I'd say padding on a couple of coats of shellac then wax, or some type of oil based wipe on finish is probably the easiest I can think of and thus one of my favorites. Tung oil, BLO, minwax wipe on poly (or similar), danish oil, some home brew of varnish, thinner, tung oil and drier. Brushing is a bit more challenging, takes more time and skill but can make a fine finish with more build quicker than wipe ons if you're game. I don't see too much point to to get into color on 2X4 furniture unless the actual final work will be in the same species (fir, YP, spruce etc) so I'd probably skip the stain, save that for sample boards of finer work. Unless you would prefer the aesthetics of the shop better with the furniture stained, then of course go for it.

[Dan Forman]

If I'm not mistaken, most of the wipe on polys require light sanding between coats. Boiled linseed oil (BLO) is simple and cheap. Waterlox costs a bit more than the wipe on polys, but you don't have to sand between coats, and is highly regarded by many folks for furniture. It has a rather stronger odor than the other wipe on finishes.

Dan

[Jim Laberge]

I've used boiled linseed oil followed by a couple of coats of wax. Looks real nice when it is fresh, easy to apply and very easy to repair/re-do if needed.
The wax helps to prevent build-up of various gunk on the tops surfaces.

[David DeCristoforo]

"All of my "Shop Furniture", ie simple items for utility use, are finished with a mixture of sawdust, butt sweat, palm grease, paint over spray, cob webs etc..."


Stop... you're killin' me.....

[Todd Burch]

You gotta make your shop cabinets look good. It's a right of passage. My shop "theme" is birdseye pine, blue paint, and amber shellac, with a few accents of mahogany.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...id=5960&t=5800

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...id=5960&t=7742

Todd

edit: testimonial: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showpost...87&postcount=2

[george wilson]

My wife does pretty well using the wipe on Minwax varnishes.We will wipe on several coats of varnish,lightly sanding every few coats. Then,I can rub the finish with fine steel wool and wax. This gives a pretty nice finish to ordinary stuff like book shelves.It saves me the trouble of getting out the spray painting stuff,etc.,and can be done in the house.

I got some gel wipe on varnish from Klingspor.Can't even remember the brand name.The can was mostly a white color. We needed it to wipe over the old finish on the hardwood floors upstairs in this 1949 house. The old floors upstairs were covered in a multitude of fine scratches,and looking pretty parched. We didn't want to resand the floors.

The gel fixed the floors right up very nicely,and dried extremely hard.It,as I expected,made all the scratches disappear.I was struck by how hard the finish dried.It was very glossy,too. It's in the Klingspor catalog in their finish section in the white can. I had a can of it sitting around,but did not expect it to be as easy to apply smoothly as it was.

[Todd Burch]

George, was it Bartley's?

[Jason White]

Very, very cool!!

You gotta make your shop cabinets look good. It's a right of passage. My shop "theme" is birdseye pine, blue paint, and amber shellac, with a few accents of mahogany.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...id=5960&t=5800

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...id=5960&t=7742

Todd

edit: testimonial: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showpost...87&postcount=2

[glenn bradley]

Todd's got some great looking stuff there. Mine are mostly BB ply with clear shellac; no sanding between coats unless you want (or need) to knock off any nibs, easily repairable if damaged. You mention that you are going to stain so shellac would still be my choice. My bench and outfeed are BLO'd without any other treatment (to make re-treating easy) but they get abused more than something like my router table.

[Jim Kountz]

All of my "Shop Furniture", ie simple items for utility use, are finished with a mixture of sawdust, butt sweat, palm grease, paint over spray, cob webs etc. .

Was that de-waxed butt sweat??

Man the awful visuals have just got to stop!!

[Peter Quinn]

Waterlox costs a bit more than the wipe on polys, but you don't have to sand between coats, and is highly regarded by many folks for furniture. It has a rather stronger odor than the other wipe on finishes.

Dan

I just finished a slightly figured cherry door for my bathroom with waterlox for the first time and I love the stuff. You aren't kidding about the stink, real strong odor. Cost about $30/quart which just covered the 3 coat application recommended for a 2'8"X80" door, so maybe a bit costly for utility work. It doesn't "require" sanding between coats, but I did. I don't think wiping poly "requires" sanding either, but like most film forming clear coats you get a better luster if you do. I did a quick knock down between coats with 320 grit ultra flex sponges that had a bit of milage on them so were probably closer to 400 grit? Seemed to do the trick. I had planed to rub it back to satin but I fell in love with the demi-gloss (don't know what else to call it, more than satin but less than semi-gloss with the depth of a drying oil) luster. Nicest door in my house by far at this point.

As to by butt sweat mixture, it is used mainly on seating surfaces which may include counter tops at times, and is either oil based or water based, or an emulsion of the two, and may be waxed or dewaxed. It must always be shaken before use and is typically strained through 100% cotton fabric prior to application. It is not commercially available though it is easy to make your own mixture!

[John Coloccia]

Anyone ever try Tru-Oil?

[Tony Bilello]

Today I had some spare time and built a quicky table for it - 44" X 44".
THe plywood top was kinda rough feeling so I applied finish.
At 4:30 PM I applied first coat of Pre Cat lacquer to entire table, legs and all. At 4:45 I applied the second coat. At 5:00 I sanded lightly to knock down the fuzzies. At 5:15 I applied a third coat to everything. At 5:30, I applied the 4th and final coat only to the top. By 5:45, gun and everything else was cleaned up and put away and table top felt as smooth as a baby's butt.
Table is waterproof, hot coffee proof, mar resistant, reasonably chemical resistant and DONE !!!!