Replies

1. 
   dustindawind | Dec 20, 2021 01:23pm | #1

   I really love Tried and True oil finish. Other oil finishes are probably also good (e.g. Osmo). In fact, I wouldn't use anything other than oil finish on a kitchen/dining table. Definitely not shellac (for obv reasons), not poly because repairing is terrible and looks plastic, and lacquer is hard to apply for a normal person. Oil is easy to apply and easy to refinish.

2. 
   drew_z | Dec 20, 2021 02:34pm | #2

   I typically use lacquer for tables and it has worked well, though I have been moving more in the direction of finishes that are easily reapplied over time. For a full-time use kitchen table, it's not a question of if there will be scratches, dents, and dings, but when. Anything that doesn't have to be completely sanded through for refinishing is what I'm becoming more and more fond of. Rubio Monocoat and similar are okay but very re-finish friendly, while offering some protection in the mean time. I prefer lacquer to poly for that reason, re-finishing tends to be a bit easier. Take that with a grain of salt though, I typically subcontract out finishing for most things at this point.

3. 
   mikefm101 | Dec 20, 2021 02:59pm | #3

   I think Arm R Seal is often used. Not certain if it can be sprayed though.

   Mike

4. 
   john_c2 | Dec 20, 2021 03:39pm | #4

   I brush a couple coats of Zinsser Sealcoats, and 2 coats of General Finishes High Performance Poly. Water based. Looks great, extremely durable.

5. 
   gulfstar | Dec 20, 2021 04:27pm | #5

   I am sitting at the mid century teak dining table that I took to bare wood and finished with danish oil 4 years ago, it will soon require a maintenance coat and is showing the areas that get frequent use. It replaced the cheap teak veneer table that I had salvaged from a snow bank 30 years ago, the later was finished with then new varathane water soluble poly. It survived 30 years of abuse while raising my kids and I sold it to a mid century store when I was given the one I am siting at, the finish was still unaffected by the numerous spills, hot wax, solvents, sewing machine, wine, hot plates etc…yes it looked like plastic but boy was it tough.

1. 
   john_c2 | Dec 20, 2021 05:57pm | #6

   I think finishes are really a personal thing. But I find that when a finish is billed as "easily repairable," its absolutely going to need repairing.

   I've repaired a bunch of finishes that I did early on. It's not something I care to do again.

   Finishes are like the clothes we wear. Some look great, but they're delicate, and you only wear them for show. Other clothes are suitable for painting the house and changing the oil.

   For a kitchen table with kids, I'm going with the one that wears like iron and won't need repairing.

6. 
   stantheman | Dec 20, 2021 06:43pm | #7

   I dont think any (oil) finish that is not film-forming provides any protection against abrasion or impacts. Danish oil is a mix of oil and varnish, and its the varnish that does the protection. I'm not very experienced with it, but water-based poly would be my choice for a table top subject to scratches, heat and dropped items.

7. 
   user-3395150 | Dec 20, 2021 07:17pm | #8

   I would consider Waterlox Original for a dining table. Their literature claims that it can be spot repaired. It's a durable finish and you can rub it out to whatever is your desired sheen.

8. 
   jharveyb | Dec 20, 2021 08:38pm | #9

   I second that you should consider Waterlox Original. I've used it almost exclusively for many years; just refinished our oak kitchen table. It has both the advantage and disadvantage of a fairly low (25%) solids content. This makes it easy to apply (esp. to horizontal surfaces) but it builds slowly, and needs to dry 24 hrs between coats. It needs 48 hours to harden well enough to sand easily for leveling. It is not as abrasion resistant as poly, but way prettier and easier to repair. I think it is worlds better than Watco Danish Oil, that I tried years ago. There was an article in a recent FWW on how to achieve a great look with it. After reading the article, I've been using a foam brush to apply it, which works well. After 3 coats, I level it with 320 grit, wipe with mineral spirits, let dry, and continue with 2 more coats. I don't have a dust free finishing area, so after the 5th coat, I wet sand with 400 grit and mineral spirits, then 0000 steel wool with mineral spirits, wipe down, and let dry. If I want a bit more gloss than the steel wool leaves, I make a "mouse" like in French polishing, using a piece of a well worn men's handkerchief (no lint and very fine thread count) wrapped around a cotton ball. I dampen it with the Waterlox, and rub it over the surface of the piece, making a light coat that dries almost instantly (so no dust adhesion.) A word of warning: this finish dries by solvent evaporation but it hardens by reaction with oxygen, which takes time. Multiple days. After I have completed the finishing process, I try to wait a few day to a week before transporting it or using it. The FWW article says to wait at least 2 weeks before rubbing it out to a glass smooth surface.
   The author also scuff sands between every coat. The tech guy at Waterlox recommended that you wait a few coats to build up enough finish that you don't accidentally sand down to bare wood or stain level. So that is what I do.

9. 
   Mittsar | Dec 20, 2021 09:40pm | #10

   Change you life, rubio monocoat

10. 
    lat_axe | Dec 21, 2021 03:29am | #11

    Experience counts.

    Three years ago we moved house into one that has an extensive (around 5 metres in length) solid oak kitchen work top. This top had been finished in the factory with some sort of bog-standard Danish oil and by the time we moved in, the top had become a mess of water marks, sticky patches, blue & black parts et al.

    Oak is not the obvious wood for a kitchen worktop as although it looks nice the open pores and reactivity of the tannins to all sorts of things means exposure of the oak itself will always result in such a mess over time. However ...

    After a bit of research I landed on Osmo Top Oil, specifically formulated for wooden kitchen worktops, tables and the like that are subject to spills, water, heat and so forth. After scraping then sanding the aforementioned oak worktop - a laborious process - five coats of top oil (one applied every 24 hours) has resulted in an extremely tough coating that, after 3 years serious use by my cooking-mad wife, has not reacted to everyday spills of water and numerous cooking goos; and is resilient even if such stuff is left on the surface for some time.

    We did have an issue around the sink where water seeped down the top-to-sink join and got under the Top Oil coat. Although the sink needed to be removed to do it, the small amount of damage (blackening and swelling of the damp oak at the join) was easily repaired, top-oiled and invisible after a month or so of the oak darkening to match the rest of the worktop. And no more water leakage damage via that join.

    I can't recommend the stuff highly enough. No other oil coat I've used (and I've used many types) has exhibited that degree of resilience.

    *********
    To those who suggest that oil finishes aren't as easy to repair as the tradition suggests, I will offer a refutation. Of the hundreds of things I've made nearly all have had some form of oil finish rather than complex and hard-to-repair lacquers, varnishes and the like.

    I've repaired these finishes in a number of cases via a quick scrape/sand of the affected areas to take out water or other marks, with reapplication of the same oil on the repaired spots. The repair is obvious only as long as the repaired wood underneath takes to darken to the same hue as the surrounding wood. That's typically between a month and six months, depending on the wood.

    Most woods darken enough to become not really noticeable after a week to a month. The oil finish "patch" itself is never visible, only the changed wood colour - until that darkens naturally to match.

    Of course, if the wood has been stained or coated with 10 different goos before the final oil coat, such an easy repair isn't possible. But this suggests that the best finish for not just a natural look but an easy repair is a simple multi-coating of an oil based finish with a toughness suitable to the tasks served by the furniture.

    Why complicate things with multiple layers of a huge variety of other coatings?

    **********
    So: kitchen stuff of solid wood: Osmo Top Oil, 5 coats.

    Lataxe

1. 
   Antpen | Dec 21, 2021 07:32pm | #16

   Another vote for the osmo.

   I have tried a lot of different types of finishes and none has been as easy to apply as the osmo.
   On top of what lataxe said I'd like to add the yellowing.
   I built a solid maple top dining table a year ago and it hasn't yellowed nearly as much as a cabinet I finished with danish oil, even though the dinning table is next to a south facing window.
   The osmo oil to me is one of the top finishes next to mineral oil and wax for cutting boards.

11. 
    chuckvandyck | Dec 21, 2021 07:57am | #12

    I’m installing white oak counters early next month. Bona Naturale has been specced. I have no real experience with it yet outside of my test boards. I have heard it is really tough stuff. I’m looking forward to using it as it seems very promising.

1. 
   john_c2 | Dec 21, 2021 12:07pm | #13

   I haven't used the Naturale, but have used the regular Bona Traffic, semi, on several floors. It's the most durable finish I've ever used, and looks fantastic.

1. 
   chuckvandyck | Dec 21, 2021 12:22pm | #14

   It truly keeps the oak natural looking. I kinda couldn’t believe it. 3x coats later its still natural looking and so far a hot mug hasn’t left any rings and coffee spills are cleaning up easily.

   Bottom is unfinished. Top has finish. Sorry for weird angle, it rotated on me.

   Typically I like what a good finish does to amplify the beauty in wood, but it is currently very in vogue to have unfinished looking white oak.

   
1. 
   john_c2 | Dec 21, 2021 05:55pm | #15

   Is the Naturale a 2-part mix, like the regular Bona Traffic?

1. 
   chuckvandyck | Dec 21, 2021 07:47pm | #17

   Yup!