How To Finish – Red Oak Book Shelves with an appropriate Clear Coat
I am new to this forum, probably even less than an amateur !, as I have never done any finishing on wood before !.
I will be attempting to finish a few bookshelves next week that I have planned to place across a home office wall – wall to wall and floor to ceiling. Its a fairly large project that consists of a total of six separate bookshelves that will have adjustable shelves and a couple of doors. I have a cabinet maker who will be completing the construction and delivering the shelves to me sanded and unfinished. We had agreed that he was only doing the construction of the shelves, but did not want to do the finishing. The shelves will be constructed with Red Oak, and the CM suggested that I finish it with a clear coat of oil-based polyurethane.
Since I am new at this I need all the advice I can get as I attempt to finish this project in about four or five days’ time in our garage. What I have learned so far, is that I should apply at least two coats of oil-based polyurethane, lightly sandpapering the first coat. The shelves will be already sanded. Against this background, here are a few questions, most of which I do appreciate are a matter of preference. :
1. Would an oil-based polyurethane be better than water-based ?
2. I am looking at Minwax brands at HomeDepot or Lowes, will these work ?
3. Does Red Oak call for any particular attention ?
I am obviously looking to apply the best available polyurethane that I can find. Are there special attention that I need to consider or be concerned about ?
I have been looking at videos on youtube on how to apply the clear coat polyurethane, and usually intuitive – so I think I can do this project.
Please kindly advise any suggestions that I may need to consider, any tips or suggestions – any resource or sites that I might look at with regards to Finishes that I might consider and any particular method I should use.
many thanks in advance,
Ben
Replies
Ben,
my recommendation would be to go to your home store, buy a thin board of red oak and test various finishes and see what you like.
I'm working on a cabinet and a children desk from red oak. I'm planning on staining it in Golden Oak to start with, and then apply Waterlox. After that maybe wax or slightly and buff it. I've stained a test piece and already applied 3 coats of Waterlox, each with 24h cure time, and I'm happy with my result so far.
I'd recommend do something similar. Stain or no stain, put on some wipe on poly. Couple of coats, and take the board inside and look at it with the lighting etc.
Poly or whatever finish should go on all sides of the boards so they don't warp and cup all over the place.
Good luck
Thanks for your suggestions. Also interesting the various steps you go thru. I understand the staining, which is probably to enhance the color which is a personal preference. I also understand the wax and buff aspect - probably for the shine. I don’t understand the ‘waterlox’ part !, that’s a broad step. Can you throw some light on which and why waterlox you use. My understanding is that waterlox is a brand that
comes in a wide variety of applications - primers, stainers, polyurethanes made my waterlox etc... so the questions again which or what kind of waterlox are you using - water or oil based ?, satin, semi or gloss ?
Thanks Ben
Search for Waterlox here on FineWoodworking and you'll see Mike use it in various Videos on White-Oak. It's an oil based varnish I believe. I'm using Waterlox Original Sealer Finish. But I'm not trying to steer you into a particular finish. I'd recommend to go buy a hand full and try them.
Waterlox isn't as durable as a poly, but personally I would think it's good enough for a shelf. It will also give you a different look after applying it.
I'd recommend get the two wipe-on polys from minwax (clear gloss, clear satin) and try them both on a test piece. If you want, throw in two small cans of stains and test those too. That's if you want to go the poly route. I would stay away from clear gloss personally for a shelf. I don't want to walk past a shelf and have the ceiling light bounce off of it like from a mirror.
Now, since this isn't complicated enough already, you mentioned doors and such. I think of poly as a wear & tear finish. I would not see any need for poly on anything besides surfaces that see wear & tear. Now I already hinted that I don't even see poly as needed at all for a shelf. But that's all personal preference. Finishing such a big project will take a lot of time. Many coats with cure time.
Why Waterlox or other varnishes over poly? I've not tried poly, but from what I've seen it's not a very penetrating finish. Why penetration? Penetration is when an oil goes into the wood, gets absorbed and cure/dries inside. It pops colors and grain patterns and in my experience really accentuates the beauty of wood. It gives depth to the surface. One extreme in that department is BLO (Boiled lineseed oil). Almost no wear and tear protection, but it sinks into the wood and looks beautiful (personal taste!). But I don't think you can wipe poly on-top of BLO. But Waterlox contains BLO. So Waterlox gives you some of the depth and pop due to it's BLO content, but you pay for it by not being as durable as a poly (=plastic) finish that is almost bomb proof.
I think the Minwax oil based poly will work just fine. I don't know if it is the very best in the world but, I've used it for many years with no issues and it is readily available.
I think you would be well advised to check the work of your contractor to make sure everything is properly sanded before you apply any finish; particularly those areas that will remain exposed like the face frame. You can do a quick check by wiping the surface with some paint thinner. This will show up any sanding scratches. If you find any in exposed areas, you may need to do some hand sanding until you get rid of them. Always sand in the same direction as the wood grain; never cross grain. You didn't mention doing any staining but, this step would be particularly important if you were as the stain will accentuate any remaining sanding scratches.
I assume you will be brushing on the poly. IMHO, regular oil based poly would be best for your first project. I have no experience brushing water based but, it dries very fast and this may cause problems when brushing. Just stay with oil based to be safe. Your first coat should be thinned regardless of what it says on the can; probably 25%. Use real mineral spirits not the low odor type. Let the first coat dry for 24 hours. The first coat particularly will probably feel rather gritty after it is dry. This is due largely to grain raising and maybe some dust. Just lightly sand it with 220 grit sandpaper. Before applying a second coat, vacuum and wipe it down with a blue shop towel dampened with mineral spirits (paint thinner) to pick up all the sanding dust. Apply the second coat as with the first. If you decide you need a third coat, you will need to sand again with 220 grit. If you want to polish the final coat you can use 600 grit and 1000 grit wet/dry sandpaper with water to really smooth the surfaces. By the way, get the best quality brush you can find.
Red oak is quite porous compared to white oak and many other hardwoods. So a seal/sand coat would be advisable. That's usually some form of shellac, but you can put almost any finish over shellac.
If you want the best information, Flexner's book on finishing is an awesome resource. It's almost overwhelming and isn't a "read" book but a "study" book. But you can look for finished for different woods, and characteristics of the finishes. If you finish furniture, that's my recommendation as the best source out there, beyond the manufacturer's information for sure.
Thought I'd post a picture of the red oak cabinet taking a golden-oak stain.
Before staining I sanded to 400 grit and applied a pre-conditioner.
How is the Red-Oak shelf coming along?
If using shellac, for a sanding sealer (which I almost always do) make sure it is a dewaxed shellac. If not, nothing will stick to the regular waxed shellac.
Hey Cam,
I'm probably one of the last oil finishers. I love the feel of nice oil finish. The thing about oils is they penetrate the wood, not just lay on top.
On raw wood I use cheesecloth or a cloth diaper for the first coat. If the wood's sanded well, the oil should soak right in. Meaning the project is ready for a next coat in a couple hours. You'd know, it wouldn't be tacky. A quick one-two with fine steel wool and the wood's ready for the real fun, wet sanding with penetrating oil.
Alan Noel offers the best description of the process. You can find it in the 'library' section of Highland Woodworking's site. It's not hard, just sloppy. I love the finish, as smooth as clean glass and it only discolors the wood as much as poly would. My preference, after trying 6 or 7 oils, is Danish oil. Watco clear (original,) Tried and True and Deft, in no particular order. If you're feeling adventurous, you could try tung oil. Tung's a little tougher to work with but will give you the same results.
Almost forgot, you can get the recipe for Danish oil here or Woodworker's Guild of America's site.
Best to you,
Mikaol
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