I’m about to finish a cherry bookcase and cabinet for my office with Watco danish oil ‘cherry color’. I’ve gone back and forth comparing a BLO/Garnet Shellac combo with the Watco and like the color of the danish oil for the piece I’ve made. It also seems to be fool proof. My concern is protection and durability. What is a good top coat that can be used with danish oil that won’t add gloss or sacrifice clarity? Will basic oil based urethanes work? Any other recommendations or tips?
Shawn
Replies
As long as its had time to dry thoroughly, you can use varnish, lacquer, I would think poly but havent tried that. If it helps, just remember that watco basically is a real cut down varnish. If its compatible with that, you're good.
In the past my favorite finish for cherry has become repeated coats of BLO, tons of time to dry, and lacquer rubbed out. The time to dry is the one that'll get ya though with that.
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Shawn,
The danish oil alone should be enough protection for a book case, unless you are really hard on book cases. If you feel like you need more protection than that try a non-poly oil base varnish. Polyurethane varnish isn't usually the best choice for furniture, some of its faults include yellowing, poor UV resistance and being difficult to repair. Any varnish will add color so keep that in mind. Take your samples through the entire process you plan to use.
I really like BLO and garnet shellac on cherry myself.
Rob
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