Good finish to put over boiled linseed oil

[ear3]

I picked up this old institutional kids chair while on vacation,  thinking it would make a nice gift for my friends soon to be two year old son. It was all gray when I got it - here it is when I had just started to sand it down with the RO90, using a combination of the interface pad and the delta pad:

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I cleaned off the metal as well with a wire brush, and protected it with some renaissance  wax. Once I had sand ed it down, I found that the seat was made of poplar, but the back from what looks like maple, though I'm not sure on that:

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Anyway, I applied two coats of boiled linseed  oil, wanting a "dirty" finish that would accentuate the uneven color tones. Came out beautifully  in my opinion, especially the deep green of the poplar:

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Now I'm wondering what the best top coat would be. I've used boiled linseed oil on some pieces in the past but I've never applied finish over them so I don't have any experience with how to finish off BLO. Thanks.

 

[tjbnwi]

Make some test piece and try various top coats. Sometimes that is the best way to go.

I'd try some finishing wax and Zar Ultra Max wipe on.

Tom

 

[bertv]

A hardwearing furniture wax, maybe even slightly tinted which will give a lot of depth. You have a RO90, so use Vlies to apply it!

 

[mouppe]

I think it looks perfect the way it is now. You could just leave it at that. I am not sure I would recommend putting wax on a chair seat as it could come off on the clothes.

I would burnish the BLO with a Rotex and a white Vlies pad as a final step.

 

[ear3]

Thanks for all the replies.  I'll start with the burnish and see how that looks before I decide whether to put a true top coat on -- all the polishing I've done in the past has been with the RO150, so I just ordered me up some vlies for the RO90.

I think it looks perfect the way it is now. You could just leave it at that. I am not sure I would recommend putting wax on a chair seat as it could come off on the clothes.

I would burnish the BLO with a Rotex and a white Vlies pad as a final step.

 

[nickao]

For that look I think the Briwax 2000 would work great. It might not be the most durable, but only rear ends ever touch the thing. It's so simply to rejuvenate later, unlike some top coats that are a bear or even impossible to repair.

Here is a pdf on the procedure, you already did half of it:

This article shows a second alternative Boiled Linseed oil/wax one step procedure, anyone ever try that?

 

[ear3]

Thanks.

For that look I think the Briwax 2000 would work great. It might not be the most durable, but only rear ends ever touch the thing. It's so simply to rejuvenate later, unlike some top coats that are a bear or even impossible to repair.

Here is a pdf on the procedure, you already did half of it:

This article shows a second alternative Boiled Linseed oil/wax one step procedure, anyone ever try that?