I made a desk from Birch and Birch Plywood. I like the natural “bleached blond” look and don’t want to darkend it. A few people told me to pain the birch plywood becuase it can be very blotchy but I don’t want to paint it. I want to put some type of coat or finish on it to protect the wood and want to keep the natural light color. Any suggestions?
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The real risk of "blotchiness" comes from trying to stain birch with a stain combining pigment and dye--the typical consumer dye. But since you want to keep it light you will have much less problem with that. For really light, you have two basic options. A super blonde shellac will darken very little, and won't darken over time (though the wood itself will gradually darken). An even lighter color can be obtained with a waterborne acyrlic finish. Either of those choices would give you moderately good protection, though certainly not up to the level from an oil based varnish.
Steve is right on.. Use the Shellac It will bring out the grain a bit and that is all. I've been playing with the new water born Lacquers and they work well also. With the any clear finish you can wipe you project with DNA and see pretty much what the look will be.
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