Water based Polyurethane over stain, a major dilema

I am thinking this is the last time for me also, at least in this kind of an application. I have used lots of minwax on hardwood furniture I have built and have never had a problem. However, in most of those cases I have used a wipe on poly to finish them. By the way, the reference to the birch is in the first post about in the middle of the first paragraph. 

Cow, that's a most excellent idea!  That's a luthier's trick.  I always save the saw dust from my fretboards when I drill for the dot inserts then rub it in around them after I glue them in so there's no space.

 It might be more productive to drill large holes for the saw dust instead of sanding. 

I've mentioned tung oil a few times, both here and in the old forum, and never got any reaction so I guess it's not popular (probably due to the prevalence of people trying to recreate the old look), but you might want to consider it if you're not looking for a really glossy finish. It can be used over stain (even water-based, like my trim), but it gives unstained birch a beautiful golden tone, not orangey-amber like shellac (I'm not a fan of the orange-amber, or high gloss on walls or most furniture). The more coats you put on and the more you buff it, the glossier it gets, and it is sooooo easy, both to apply and repair. It gives such a nice warm glow without harsh reflections. Makes the grain look deep enough to stick your hands into it, and the grain varies with the angle of the light.

It's really hard to do it justice with a photograph, but here's one of my bedroom wall, where it meets the back of the shower wall. Look how the flash reflected off the insulation (but not the frame) and lit up the birch. It still doesn't do it any justice, though. Tung-oiled birch in sunlight is absolutely gorgeous. And feels wonderful under your hand, too. For scuffs, you just sand or steel wool (if needed to smooth out a gouge or remove a stain), and re-oil the spot. It just blends right in.


This link is from a site that sells their own brand of pure tung oil, I include it only because it has some pics that really show the mild satiny glow you get. Check out the countertop at the top of the page and the drum kit farther down, and the floors.

www.realmilkpaint.com/gallery-tungoil.html

I used pure tung oil from the hardware store (not the above product), mixed 50/50 with mineral spirits to make it soak in. The "Tung Oil Finish" and "Danish Oil Finish" products you find at HD and elsewhere have some varnish mixed in, so they're not the same thing as pure tung oil. They may not have any actual tung oil at all.

It's very similar to the French Polish process, but not as finicky. Sand the birch smooth with 400 grit (with the grain), blow or dust, then tack rag, brush on the oil/spirits mixture, let it soak in for half an hour to an hour, wipe off the excess, let dry to the touch (time depends on humidity, but it dries pretty slowly), hit with 0000 steel wool with the grain, tack rag, and repeat until the level of gloss is where you want it, then finally buff with a cloth. I can't say enough how really beautiful it looks, and how staggeringly easy it is. It comes out more like the wood paneling in the study of an old British house than a vintage camper finish.

It isn't as waterproof as poly or shellac (you already fixed all the leaks so who cares, right?). More like water resistant, but it is oil after all, so water would have to sit on it to eventually soak through. It isn't as tough as poly, but since poly on thin soft plywood isn't much protection to begin with, and since it only takes a few minutes to repair scuffs, that is arguably a moot point. It also has the advantage of not trapping water behind the finish.

It takes longer than shellacking or varnishing because of the slower drying between coats, but to me it's definitely worth it. I did mine outside on sawhorses, on a nice breezy summer day, and had no worries at all about what the wind might blow onto it, because I could just brush leaves, bugs or whatever right off with my hand or some air. And since a good finish isn't dependent on not being touched, you can lean the pieces up against any convenient wall instead of doing only one panel at a time or covering your shop with pieces of paneling, without the worry about messing up a half-dried finish. It's so EASY!

With a bit of experimentation with stains, I know you could get the amber color of the old trailers too, if you wanted it. I wanted to keep it light and bright, so I didn't try that, and don't know what stain would work best or anything.

Just another alternative, that I hope someone else tries some time.

I've had trouble with Tung oil but not sure if it was pure or not... it stayed sticky. Is there a life on tung oil? I even wrote on the can that I didn't like the finish. Now I'm thinking it wasn't the correct product or poor application.