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A second vote for Zinnser Bull's eye shellac, but just remember it will become more orange with age. It is still a great product that produces a great finish. Another option that I use a lot is Minwax satin Spar Urethane. It is a little more difficult to apply. You have to wait longer between sanding and coats, but the final finish is beautiful, tough, durable, and chemical resistant. It is designed for outdoor use and taking the elements.

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I have 2 different stock finishes that work well.

 

1,  Minwax water based satin urethane, DURABLE and does not melt in sweaty hands, cleans up easy and can be touched up invisibly.

2. BLO and parafin wax 50/50. Apply hot mixture to a preheated stock,

 

Urethane can be used over a water stain.

BLO/wax can be tinted with oil stain.

Both look good over natural wood.

 

Careful when staining birch, it may absorb color unevenly.

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Here's a pic of the current state of things.  This is 4 coats of MinWax sedona red stain.  Applied over two days.  Debating whether or not to use the fast drying polyurethane (clear gloss) or not.  

140802 0004

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^^^Agreed... That's why I suggested lemon oil. Oiled wood holds up great (especially since you've got all that stain in the pores) and if it gets a little boofed, oil again. It also smells nice and will keep mosquitoes a little further away. :)

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Just FYI shellac will very likely bubble up under heat unless you let it fully dry for weeks.

 

Mine is just finished with BLO, about 15 coats rubbed in over the course of a week. Unfortunately BLO will leech out a lot of oil-based stains, and it's possible that the stain has probably already "filled up" a lot of the open wood grain and will prevent it from accepting oil, but YMMV. You may be fine.

 

I have had BLO basically pull Minwax stain right out of the wood before.. Not good.

 

I have also mixed a few drops of lemon oil in with the BLO for good results. A few woodworkers have recommended this.

 

Most of the clear poly coatings will NOT yellow, but do scratch fairly easily. The nice thing about oil finishes is that if you scratch or ding it, rub more in.

 

If you're going to do a spray poly, lightly buff between coats with steel wool. Instead of 2-3 coats you may need to do 5-6 but you will get a more uniform coating with minimal orange peel or cloudy look.

Edited by mancat
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