Best Finish On Red Oak That Keeps Grain Texture and Protects Against Water?

[Harry Muscle]

I'm looking for feedback on what would be the best finish to use on red oak that would keep the 3D like grain texture (here's a picture of what I'm referring to as grain texture: https://woodweb.com/knowledge_base_i...topcoats_1.jpg) but also offer good protection against water (the kind of water protection I'm referring to is enough protection to deal with a small puddle of water that gets left on the wood and evaporates in an hour or two on its own without damaging the wood). My guess would be wipe on poly since it is applied in very thin layers so I'm guessing it's less likely to fill in all of the grain texture and poly in general offers good protection against water. However, I'm wondering if there are other better or easier or quicker options to consider. For example would regular poly (which would be quicker to apply) leave the grain texture exposed the same as wipe on poly, or is it more likely to fill in the grain because its applied in thicker coats? Any other types of finishes that offer the kind of water protection I'm looking for?

Thanks,
Harry

[Jamie Buxton]

My experience with waterborne finishes is that they tend to accentuate grain like that, while solvent borne varnish does not.

Waterbornes don’t have the amber tone of solvent-bornes, so the red oak may look somewhat washed out to you. You can address that by applying stain beforehand. “Golden Oak” is a color which many people associate with red oak.

[Bob Wingard]

I use WATERLOX, thinned about 2:1 NAPHTHA to FINISH, and wipe it on. You can do several coats in a day and stop when you reach the result you are looking for.

[Mike Null]

Twenty five years ago I built a kitchen table out of red oak. I used Minwax polyurethane and Minwax golden oak stain. We use the table for all our meals and I just refinished it last year. I used the same varnish again as it has been unbelievably durable and a perfect match to our kitchen cabinets.

[John TenEyck]

Minwax Oil Modified Waterborne Polyurethane on red oak, sanded to 150 or maybe 180 grit.



It was applied by brush by my friend. As you can see, there are no brush marks. It is super durable. The table is now three years old and has survived the daily onslaught of his two kids.

Waterbornes don't like to fill in the pores in red and white oak, like solvent based varnishes do, which makes them a good choice if you want to preserve the tactile grain structure.

John

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I'd use MinWax fast drying oil based polyurethane. Wipe on several coats. I haven't seen a need to thin it and you can control the depth of grain by the number of coats you apply.