All,

I'm making a dining table from American Black Walnut; trestle style with a live-edge top without breadboard ends. The base pieces are nearly done; I hope to get started on the top sometime in the next few weeks. I need some suggestions for a finish.

We want the finish to be satin, not glossy. But of course we want something that can take a little bit of abuse. I'm not against having to touch up the finish on maybe a yearly basis, but having to do it more frequently than that would get really annoying. I do not have spray equipment, and my shop is in my basement in the same room as the furnace.

My first thoughts were to do either shellac or BLO as a sealer coat, and then something like Waterlox on top of that. Then there was also the wipe-on poly-based finish that Prashun posted about. Anyone have any thoughts on those, or any other ideas?

Thanks,
Steve