Replies

1. 
   HowardAcheson | Jul 02, 2009 10:49pm | #1

   First, you can finish before assembly and glue up as long as you mask off the areas where the glue will be. Glue will only provide a good bond to virgin wood.

   Also, I question your finishing schedule. What do you mean by "seal" then linseed oil? If you first apply a seal coat, the linseed oil will not be able to be absorbed by the wood. Linseed oil is an oil that is absorbed into the wood. It does not sit on top of the wood.

   Finally, what do you mean by Waterlox Urethane? Generally folks use Waterlox non-urethane finishes. The popular ones are Waterlox Original Gloss or Waterlox Original Satin. Both are non-urethane finishes and provide a much nicer finish than a urethane.

   Howie.........
2. 
   SteveSchoene | Jul 03, 2009 01:45am | #2

   I'm with Howard on this.  In fact, in my opinion, if a Waterlox (non-urethane) varnish is used you don't need the linseed oil.  If you think you are doing the seal coat to avoid "blotching" then you definately don't need the linseed oil.  Using a dewaxed shellac wash coat to avoid blotching is a fairly tricky maneuver but it will possibly meet your goals if you just go directly to the varnish.  Waterlox makes a urethane varnish but that's not in their core product line, which are phenolic resin varnishes in Satin, Original/Sealer, and Gloss.  I'd recommend Satin for kitchen cabinets. 

1. 
   mmur | Jul 03, 2009 03:31am | #3

   I have allot to learn that's for sure! The recommendation I received was; using a 3 part boiled linseed oil to 1. d. alcohol,using a zinsser seal coat wax free shellac and waterlox ( crystal clear urethane gloss xl88 ) and yes I'm trying to avoid blotching the cherry. I'm going to do some samples anymore suggestions? Would it be easier to finish 1st or to assemble

1. 
   SteveSchoene | Jul 03, 2009 05:22am | #4

   If you wanted to avoid blotching on cherry, you would could mix Zinnser Seal Coat with DNA down to under 1 lb. cut and apply one thin coating.  This might reduce the apparent "blotching" of linseed oil or an oil based varnish, but you should make several experiments to determine the look you want.  Linseed oil would, if anything cause more "blotching" than just using a varnish directly.  There isn't much point in thinning linseed oil but if one wants to do it for some reason, the appropriate thinner is mineral spirits or VM&P Naphtha.   

   But making heroic efforts to control what is actually just a basic characteristic of cherry doesn't make a lot of sense to me. 

   I'm not familiar with the Waterlox polyurethane varnish so I can't comment on it's specific characteristics, though as a general matter, single part consumer grade polyurethane varnishes have a number of draw backs that eliminate them from my finishing repertoire except in very specific situations calling for unusual abrasion resistance, like floors. 

   Edited 7/2/2009 10:24 pm ET by SteveSchoene

3. 
   JiminFla | Jul 03, 2009 04:52pm | #5

   I wanted a cherry cabinet to be darker than it would have been with just a shellac finish and the test pieces I stained blotched badly, even with dye.   To solve the problem,I put a seal coat of dewaxed shellac on the wood and then applied a gel stain...which does not penetrate into the wood...over the shellac to obtain the color that I wanted.  Then I applied numerous coats of shellac as a topcoat.

   Jim

    

   http://www.jimreedy.com