cherry game table top finishing

[Dave Cohen]

I am finishing up a cherry game board table with embedded purple heart and maple chess board.

When I rub on mineral spirits the cherry looks fantastic, what is the best way to bring out the grain like I see with the mineral spirits, but also have a durable , water proof/resistant finish?

I would like to stick to using polyurethane for the top coat, because I am just most familiar with it, and don't want to risk any major mistakes on this piece.

Does putting BLO or tung oil or Danish oil present any special challenges to the curing of the polyurethane ?

[Jim Becker]

A light application of BLO will bring out the grain and color. If you let it cure for 3-5 days, there will be no issue coating it with any oil based finish including something containing polyurethane. But consider a non-poly varnish. Looks better and is just as durable. Goes on the same way so there is no risk of "major mistakes" beyond any you could make with the poly. Poly was designed for floors...

[Larry Fox]

I went with BLO and French Polish for mine. Maybe not as durable but IMO nothing can match it in as a finish / technique terms of looks.

finished_table_2.jpg

[Dave Cohen]

Beautiful

What woods? Looks like mahogany and maple for the squares, and ?? for the field...what iS the narrow trim around the chess board?

What is french polish, never heard of it...

[Larry Fox]

Thanks for the kind words Dave. The squares are bubinga and birds-eye-maple and the field is air-dried walnut. The narrow trim around the board is an inlay from inlays.com. French polish is a technique for applying shellac. It is a bit of work but IMO the results are more than worth it. Pretty much my hands-down favorite finish. There are many articles online about it. Shellac color is platina from Homesteadfinishing.com.