I’m replacing old “cardboard” kitchen cabinets with vertical grain Douglas-fir, using a face-frame construction with inset drawers and doors . . . and I’m wondering what finish should I use?
I want a rich look, a golden-brown honey look. I achieved this a couple years ago on VG Doug-fir in a bathroom using Mohawk’s Brushing Varnish, which they no longer produce.
I want protection for the rather soft wood and my busy kitchen. I am trying test pieces with Waterlox Original. Although it has the warm colour, it seems to take forever to build into a protective finish.
What would you recommend?
JIMBELL
Replies
It needs to be one that stays flexible, so that when it does get dinged the finish will flex with the wood, and not crack.
I would tend toward an oil based varnish, over a danish oil or bolied linsed oil base.
The oil base varnish can be tined with any of the tinitng agents used for oil based paints, so you might be able to get the store to tint it for you.
Several points about using Waterlox. The Gloss (and the Satin to a lesser degree) has a higher solids content than the original/sealer. Seocondly, if you are wiping on the O/S you don't need to wait overnight between coats. You can put the coats on in "sets" of about three coats, applied just as soon as the finish is dry to the touch--usually about 2-3 hours. No sanding is needed between these coats. After each set it is necessary to let the finish cure overnight, and to sand before starting the next set. Reduces both total elapsed time, and the amount of sanding needed. It's a very good choice for kitchen cabinets since the phenolic resin is the toughest, and compounded with tung oil, also makes for a higher degree of water resistance.
I've used Waterlox Original recently on a few projects. In my experience, in order to get some build, you need to brush it on. On my project I flooded the surface for the first coat then wiped off the excess and let it dry. Once dry, I sanded before the next coat which I applied with a brush laying on a fairly thin coat. I repeated the sanding and brushing until I got the sheen I wanted. I had acheived pretty good gloss by the 4th coat. I like Waterlox a lot because it builds the gloss slowly and I can control the gloss, but it may be a little soft to provide the level of protection you want. I've also used McCloskey's Heirloom varnish and thought it dried pretty hard. It imparts a less amber hue than Waterlox. It built a very high gloss in just a couple of coats.
PS, both projects were on mahogany
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