Oak plywood

[Matty04]

Hey guys, any suggestions on finishing oak plywood?  The project is a large built-in with oak ply and red oak trim, some wide pieces and some not so wide.  The finished look is really non-specific, the furniture is an eclectic collection.
For other projects I have used amber shellac by itself and amber shellac followed by different gel stains with more shellac on top then a top coat, but was just wondering what anyone else has used.
Thanks all
Mike

 

[sancho57]

what color/look do you want? I usually use GF  WB enduro coat for a top coat

 

[Matty04]

With red oak I try to limit the finish to amber or amber-ish.  I have not used that particular finish before.  This being a water based finish, how does it look after a year or so and do you use this over an oil or is this it?

Thanks
Mike

 

[mrFinpgh]

If you want to do Amber, then probably best to keep it simple.

For me, getting plywood and solid to match is always the hard part.

If you want to go dark, maybe try dying the oak yellow and then going over top with something brown.  I've never tried it, but I know Jeff Jewitt and Charles Neil have both done this kind of thing. 

 

[grbmds]

I've used just polyurethane (oil-based) or sometimes a medium oak stain with poly over the top. Since water based poly doesn't add any color or depth to the finish, I feel it's always best to stain the wood lightly with some penetrating stain, like a medium oak color, and then use the water based poly over the top. I have always liked just oil based poly on oak but it depends on the attractiveness of the grain and whether you want the natural oak look or something else. Also, sometimes veneered plywood doesn't have the most attractive grain patterns and some stain is necessary to add to the overall look. All this is just my opinion though. For oil based poly, I've used General Arm-R-Seal or the Gel poly in Satin.

 

[sancho57]

GF makes a finish with a orange tint that gives it the OB look.

 

[stickman]

I recently used Weatherwash (some sort of chemical reaction, not a stain) and the results were awesome. It was a hard maple bed and using the “Storm” version it came out a really nice weathered gray. Looks great. They have one specifically for oak:

Weatherwash Oaked

 

[Bob Wolfe]

I think it all depends on how creative you want to be.  Watco fruitwood oil finish is the easiest I have found to give the honey - colored look if that is what you want. really simple to use, filling grain optional. Topcoat after.
I now fill the grain on red oak, and I tint the filler for added effect, there are a million options. You can use a gel stain to pack into the open grain to make that grain stand out.

Check youtube for finishes on red and white oak, processes often work the same for both species, red oak generally has more open grain. General Finishes trans red oxide looks cool on oak sometimes, but maybe not so on a large piece.

here is an opportunity to try something new.  Have fun.
BW

 

[tjbnwi]

Zar Honey Maple stain, if you want to fill the grain, Aqua Coat or Crystal Lac, top coat GF Enduro should give you the glow you're looking for.

Tpm