Bathroom Cabinet

[mlutton]

I am on the last 10 or so steps of completing a bathroom cabinet.  The "show" sides are maple ply, the non-show parts are shop birch and the drawers are baltic birch.  I want to give it a small amount of color (a light honey brown maybe) and then finish it so it is waterproof/resistant.  Since this will be my first foray into the world of finshing a cabinet, I was hoping for some product advice and finishing advice.  Specifically:
1) Any stain product recommendations
2) Any finishing product recommendation for waterproofing/resisting
3) Any technique recommendations (i.e someone told me to wipe the cabinet with naptha to eliminate any oils on it to prevent fisheyeing)

Thanks in advance for any advice.  I'll post some pics when I can.

Matt

 

[Mark Hulette]

If you haven't already checked out Jeff Jewitt's site Homestead Finishing dot com and they'll give you all types of help/suggestions

 

[clintholeman]

I often use Benjamin Moore's water based poly.  Looks great, applies easily, and clean up is a breeze.  Tough enough for flooring, yet looks wonderful on cabinets - and is great for bath vanities.

 

[Qwas]

You can also try General Finish products. I used their Country Color for a stain, and Polyurethane Top Coat. I applied with a brush since I didn't have a spray system at the time.

I am just switching over to Homestead Finishing. I have sprayed a couple maple plywood boards with their WB Shellac followed up with their Ultima Lacquer (also water based) and it looks great.

Since your cabinet is in a bathroom with changing humidity conditions, I would recommend finishing  the inside of the cabinet as well as the outside.

If you are going to stain the maple, you should only sand it to 120 grit. Anything finer and the stain won't adhere to the maple. The stain will probably come out splotchy, another typical problem with maple. Sometimes a second coat of stain will help overcome the splotches, or you can apply a light layer of dewaxed shellac before the stain.

 

[mlutton]

Thank you for your replies.  I have been looking at the products suggested and they are giving me an idea of what I need.

Thanks for the website as well.

Matt