I am building a dining room table and buffet. I am undecided on a finish and would like some on deciding what would be good. I have been using water based poly on most of the furniture I have been building and with proper rubbing out I have been satisfied.
In my search for information to help me decide I have been looking for a good comparison chart of different finishes and have been unsuccessful. Anyone know of one?
On another subject. I have been installing crown moulding in my house where some of the rooms are octagons and have found a relatively easy method of cutting the moulding. I built a jig which holds the moulding at the angle it will be on the ceiling and wall which gets clamped to the compound miter saw. I set the miter angle and cut the moulding at the correct miter angle. To cut the other end flip the moulding so that the other end is in the jig and flip it over. The other end will be cut at the correct angle.
Replies
ASK
I too have built a buffet and finished with water-based poly. (I used water-based to keep the colorr lighter than that I get with solvent based finishes. I've tried three: Varathane from Liberon in CA, Minwax Poly Crylic from the hardware store and General Finishes from Woodcraft. The last is the best - levels very well, few, if any, bubbles. Does have a slight yellow cast. Varathane is next best. It doesn't level as well. Forget the minwax stuff.
I buff to a high gloss using Abrlon pads and finally Oneway buffing kit. I use poly on this piece to resist alcohol.
Jerry
I don't know that it would have all of the criteria that you might be looking for... such as buffing qualities, but... you might try seeing if your local library has a copy of the latest Architectural Woodworking Institute's spec book. In the finishing section are several charts comparing a variety of attributes of the various wood finishes. I don't believe that buffing is one of the attributes, though. Not too many large commercial outfits buff. So, it's not relevant to those who buy and refer to this particular specifications book.
Regards,
Kevin
Kevin,
Thanks for the lead. Everything I have read, even books about "how to get the best finish" type discuss , with the author's prefernces, each of the different finishes but no one ever compares them. I found some discussions on various woodworking web sites which explain conversion and non-conversion finishes which is useful but not a real comparison of how each performs and what each might be good for.
Maybe it's time for someone to right a good book
Thanks again
ASK
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