recommendation for low sheen finish, please

[Howard Pollack]

Hi- I want a low sheen finish for some dining chairs that I'm building- water based prefered. I don't have a spray set-up so brush or pad application is a must. I'd appreciate all suggestions. Thanks. -Howard

[John TenEyck]

Oil based - Arm-R-Seal

Waterborne - MinWax's Oil Modified Polyurethane. Goes on great with a brush, looks good, and is very durable.

John

[Michael Roberts]

Osmo PolyX Oil 3031 Matte has become my favorite wipe on low luster finish. I apply it with a white non woven pad and wipe it off with paper towels. Two coats with a light scuff with 400 in between makes for a really beautiful (and easy) finish.

[Howard Pollack]

Will the MinWax's Oil Modified Polyurethane add an amber color to light colored wood? Thanks. -Howard

[Jim Becker]

Will the MinWax's Oil Modified Polyurethane add an amber color to light colored wood? Thanks. -Howard

Yes, it will. It's an emulsified oil finish with a water carrier. Good stuff, too.

[roger wiegand]

Almost anything left to cure well and then rubbed out with 0000 steel wool. Starting with a finish without flatteners and then rubbing it to the desired sheen seems to produce a much nicer finish for me than things that are satin or matte straight from the can. More forgiving of nibs and such and less clutter in the finishing cabinet as well.

[Bob Vavricka]

Minwax makes an ultra-flat version of their Polycrylic Finish.

[Jim Becker]

One of the "flattest" most disappearing finish I've seen reference to so far is from Renner...Jason Bent recently used it on some white oak kitchen projects and it literally disappears visually. Sprayed beautifully. I'm considering trying it on a future project, even if I don't use the flatter than flat sheen.

[John TenEyck]

GF's Enduro Clear Poly in Matte, or their Flat Out Flat, will give a no finish look. Both are dead clear, too, if that makes sense for a flat finish. Not sure I'd consider either for a chair, however.

John

[Jim Becker]

GF's Enduro Clear Poly in Matte, or their Flat Out Flat, will give a no finish look. Both are dead clear, too, if that makes sense for a flat finish. Not sure I'd consider either for a chair, however.

John

You might enjoy Jason Bent's recent comparison of a few finishes for the dead flat look on Bent Woodworking on the 'Tube. He compared four if I recall including the GF product you mention.

[Alex Shanku]

Osmo PolyX Oil 3031 Matte has become my favorite wipe on low luster finish. I apply it with a white non woven pad and wipe it off with paper towels. Two coats with a light scuff with 400 in between makes for a really beautiful (and easy) finish.

I'll second this. I've been using Osmo (both the matte and, more often, the Thin) on almost all my projects and turnings this past year or so. My computer wrist support (made out of cherry and finished with two coats of osmo matte) sees about 30-40 hours of use a week, and looks as good as it did 1.5 years ago when I made it.

[John TenEyck]

You might enjoy Jason Bent's recent comparison of a few finishes for the dead flat look on Bent Woodworking on the 'Tube. He compared four if I recall including the GF product you mention.

Thanks Jim. I watched it. The Renner looked really good, about like Enduro Clear Poly looks. Ouch, the price of the Renner, though.

John

I wonder why Bent said Rubio Monocoat wasn't durable enough, and the reason he was looking for an alternative? RM seems very durable from my testing, and dirt simple to repair if ever needed.

[Alex Shanku]

You might enjoy Jason Bent's recent comparison of a few finishes for the dead flat look on Bent Woodworking on the 'Tube. He compared four if I recall including the GF product you mention.

Good video, thanks for sharing that. Quite the Festool collection he has....

[Jim Becker]

Thanks Jim. I watched it. The Renner looked really good, about like Enduro Clear Poly looks. Ouch, the price of the Renner, though.

John

I wonder why Bent said Rubio Monocoat wasn't durable enough, and the reason he was looking for an alternative? RM seems very durable from my testing, and dirt simple to repair if ever needed.

Yes, the Renner is not inexpensive.

Good video, thanks for sharing that. Quite the Festool collection he has....

Now that he's retired from the military, he's doing some training videos for Festool (HQ is nearby) like Sedge does (Brian Sedgely) but with a different presentation style, of course. LOL But he's been in the Festool camp for quite a while now. One benefit he gets is to be able to pre-review new stuff. That's pretty kewel.

[Jimmy Harris]

Almost anything left to cure well and then rubbed out with 0000 steel wool. Starting with a finish without flatteners and then rubbing it to the desired sheen seems to produce a much nicer finish for me than things that are satin or matte straight from the can. More forgiving of nibs and such and less clutter in the finishing cabinet as well.

Yes. It's surface smoothness that produces shine, and scuffing up the surface is a great way to reduce shine.

You could also try General Finishes High Performance Dead Flat as well. It's waterbased, provided a hard, polyurethane finish and is has the dullest sheen of any finish I've tried. The downside is it's not easy to apply. And you want to apply it really thin. You don't want to build up a matte finish. With the flatteners, it'll darken up the wood a bit too.

And then you have several finsih options that don't build a surface, like BLO or Danish Oil and such. They're pretty flat, but they're not very protective.

Personally, I'd try it with the normal gloss finish and then scuff the surface to flatten it out and see how you like it. If it doesn't appeal to you, then you can apply a topcoat of the Dead Flat or some other matte finish and it'll look that same as adding 3 or 4 layers of all matte finish. It's really the final coat that determines the shine.