Clear finish for highly figured walnut

[ear3]

After flipping through a good portion of the stack, I found this great piece of figured walnut I'm using for some drawers for a small furniture piece I'm building for my wife. I tend to use oil finishes lime osmo just because they are easy, but having used osmo on walnut before I'm worried it would darken the figure too much and lose some of the contrast. Any recommendations for a decent poly finish, preferably something water based so I'm not applying g the finish over the course of several days?

 

[ear3]

A couple more pics with drawers installed -- casing is rustic walnut

 

[waho6o9]

https://generalfinishes.com/professional-products/water-base-topcoats-and-sanding-sealers

I like the Enduro Clear Poly, apply thin coats with a T-shirt and it looks good.

Great looking furniture Edward!

 

[magellan]

Sometimes we over think finishing, I'm guilty.  Lately I've been using a lot of figured walnut and I've gone the simple way and it works beautifully.  I mix a 50/50 combination of urethane/poly with mineral spirits.  Wipe it on and let it dry.  Put on two coats a day and sand with 320 between coats.  Put 5/6 or more coats on and then finish sand with 600 and then buff in a coat of good wax.  It feels so nice that you can't keep your hands off it.  It's about as easy as you can get and it brings out the figure.  Hope this helps
Apply with a soft cloth.

 

[tiralie]

I don't think Osmo will darken that too much.
You could also use some Rubio monocots 2c. Sand to 180 and apply one coat. Done. Gives a very nice "natural" look simalar to Osmo but there is a hardener which you mix with the oil that speeds up the drying time.
Tim

 

[ear3]

Thanks for all the replies so far.  Just curious [member=10212]magellan[/member] , what's the purpose of thinning the poly with mineral spirits?  Does it make the application easier, or speed up drying?

 

[jeh]

I have used water-based finishes on Walnut and have had great results. Walnut is a great looking wood that never requires any staining in my opinion.

 

[magellan]

Thanks for all the replies so far.  Just curious [member=10212]magellan[/member] , what's the purpose of thinning the poly with mineral spirits?  Does it make the application easier, or speed up drying?

Both,  it is a very easy application with a soft rag and it dries in just a few hours so you can sand lightly with the 320 and apply another coat.  Let it sit over night and repeat.  4 to 6 coats and then hit with the 600 and then wax.  It's so easy and fool proof and the figure pops without the darkening of straight up poly.  Deep penetration also    It will feel so nice to touch.

 

[rvieceli]

I'm with Tim. I don't think the osmo will be too dark. I use a lot of black walnut and have switched over to Osmo Polyx in clear / satin-Matt and really love the results. I tried Rubiomonocoat but didn't like the final results. Thought the osmo popped better.

Do you have an off cut you could test on?

 

[magellan]

Absolutely do some tests.

 

[Paul G]

https://generalfinishes.com/professional-products/water-base-topcoats-and-sanding-sealers

I like the Enduro Clear Poly, apply thin coats with a T-shirt and it looks good.

Great looking furniture Edward!

I like GF products as well, but haven't used on walnut yet so no first hand experience to offer. Hopefully there's some scraps for testing.

 

[rmwarren]

Edward, I used Arm-R-Seal (as suggested by [member=550]Tinker[/member] ) on one of the walnut slabs last summer and got really nice results:

[attachimg=1]

Pretty easy application but you do need to keep a wet edge to prevent streaks.

RMW

 

[Paul G]

Edward, I used Arm-R-Seal (as suggested by [member=550]Tinker[/member] ) on one of the walnut slabs last summer and got really nice results:

[attachimg=1]

Pretty easy application but you do need to keep a wet edge to prevent streaks.

RMW

I like arm-r-seal also, your slab looks great. How many coats did you do? I typically use it as a wipe on finish and don't fight the wet edge. But the OP was hoping for a water based solution.

 

[tjbnwi]

Waterlox.

Tom

 

[rmwarren]

Paul, I missed the water-based requirement. I did about 6-8 coats, it took a while to dry.

Finishing is my Achilles heel, I tried oil, either Osmo or Surfix can't remember, but the boss wanted gloss so I switched to Arm-R-Seal at Wayne's recommendation. It streaks really easy if brushed too much. I also prefer wipe on oils.

RMW

Edward, I used Arm-R-Seal (as suggested by [member=550]Tinker[/member] ) on one of the walnut slabs last summer and got really nice results:

[attachimg=1]

Pretty easy application but you do need to keep a wet edge to prevent streaks.

RMW

I like arm-r-seal also, your slab looks great. How many coats did you do? I typically use it as a wipe on finish and don't fight the wet edge. But the OP was hoping for a water based solution.

 

[ear3]

I feel a little guilty having gotten so many good replies, and then just gone ahead and disregarded them (but which will be useful in the future!).  I used a water based poly on the casing, but then sanded the faces of the drawer up to 2000 platin then coated it with wax to seal and protect.  It looks great -- will post results later in write up in member projects section -- have to finish up putting the casters on and the pipe for clothes hanging: it's a rolling butler station.  Thanks for the advice.