Water Based Finish on Step Stool.

[Lbob131]

Made this little  step stool. (Thanks to the  Woodwhisperer)
I cut  this from a cherry  log  with my band saw  using a  Lenox tri master blade. (awesome blade)

I gave it two coats  of  boiled linseed oil  then waited a week and  then  sprayed it with a water based   varnish using a devilbiss  hvlp  spray gun.
The varnish  was thick  so not being sure  how to thin  this stuff I placed the spray pot  in a  saucepan of water  and heated it on the gas  slightly.
It was then thin enough to get a reasonable atomisation  through the gun.
Well I'm very pleased with the result. It looks fantastic  in reality. I'm just a hobbyist.
What do you guys think?

 

[Tinker]

It looks great. [thumbs up]
Tinker

 

[Scott B.]

Looks good lB. Congrats on leaping into the waterborne realm.

 

[Lbob131]

This is the first one I made which is yellow pine  finished  with  a single coat of Rustins  antique stain  wiped on   followed  by two coats of  water based  varnish  also wiped on  and a final rub with very fine  steel wool.
Not as pretty as  the  cherry  version but I'm finding it very useful  around the home. The cherry one is a gift  to  someone else.

 

[Scott B.]

lb

Nice. On cherry, I still have to do hand rubbed oil first, then top with wb clear. Nothing like it.

Here's an example:

[attachimg=#]

 

[Lbob131]

Thanks. I might try that.

 

[tiralie]

Made this little  step stool.

I gave it two coats  of  boiled linseed oil  then waited a week and  then  sprayed it with a water based varnish using a devilbiss hvlp  spray gun.

What do you guys think?

Looks good. Very sturdy looking.
Just curious did you apply the linseed oil to give the cherry more "color"?

On cherry, I still have to do hand rubbed oil first, then top with wb clear. Nothing like it.

Scott:
Do you use a Tung or Danish rubbing oil or something else.
Tim

 

[Scott B.]

Made this little  step stool.

I gave it two coats  of  boiled linseed oil  then waited a week and  then  sprayed it with a water based varnish using a devilbiss hvlp  spray gun.

What do you guys think?

Looks good. Very sturdy looking.
Just curious did you apply the linseed oil to give the cherry more "color"?

On cherry, I still have to do hand rubbed oil first, then top with wb clear. Nothing like it.

Scott:
Do you use a Tung or Danish rubbing oil or something else.
Tim

Tim

I like nothing better on cherry than Watco danish oil for the visual aesthetic, but its critical in most applications to put a protective clear over it.

 

[Theshipstore]

Scott. Is nice to see another Watco Danish fan, I have been using this product now for about 20 years and for me it's the best on all my cherry products.
Sal

 

[Scott B.]

Scott. Is nice to see another Watco Danish fan, I have been using this product now for about 20 years and for me it's the best on all my cherry products.
Sal

Glad to hear its not just me, Sal.  [big grin]

If the goal is to pop the natural depth of cherry (a favorite look of mine), there is nothing like it. Even blonde cherry responds to it.

If it is necessary to stain cherry, which I used to consider blasphemous but have come around on, I feel equally strongly about waterborne dye stain for that situation.

But all of the cherry in my own house, including kitchen counters, is watco on cherry. Oiled cherry will probably always be my favorite species/finish combo.

 

[Scott B.]

This is a shot of my kitchen tops at the 10 year mark. I have never maintained the finish and never want to touch it. Just gets better with age. [attachimg=#]

 

[Tinker]

Scott. Is nice to see another Watco Danish fan, I have been using this product now for about 20 years and for me it's the best on all my cherry products.
Sal

Glad to hear its not just me, Sal.  [big grin]

If the goal is to pop the natural depth of cherry (a favorite look of mine), there is nothing like it. Even blonde cherry responds to it.

If it is necessary to stain cherry, which I used to consider blasphemous but have come around on, I feel equally strongly about waterborne dye stain for that situation.

But all of the cherry in my own house, including kitchen counters, is watco on cherry. Oiled cherry will probably always be my favorite species/finish combo.

Another vote for Watco.
Tinker

 

[Scott B.]

lb

Nice. On cherry, I still have to do hand rubbed oil first, then top with wb clear. Nothing like it.

Here's an example:

[attachimg=#]

How long do you wait between the oil & 1st coat of clear WB?

72 hours is safe bet, Chris. If using oil topcoat that can be pushed up.

 

[Tinker]

lb

Nice. On cherry, I still have to do hand rubbed oil first, then top with wb clear. Nothing like it.

Here's an example:

[attachimg=#]

How long do you wait between the oil & 1st coat of clear WB?

72 hours is safe bet, Chris. If using oil topcoat that can be pushed up.

For me (and some others, I am sure), the shop is unheated in winter (because furnace is at one end, it stays around 50º) and very humid in summer, i find i often have to wait a day or two longer before applying a WB surface finish.  For some of my smaller projects that will fit, I nuke in the micro wave.
Tinker

 

[Lbob131]

Just curious did you apply the linseed oil to give the cherry more "color"?

Yes. The grain  colouring  really jumped out  after  the linseed was applied.

 

[tiralie]

Tim

I like nothing better on cherry than Watco danish oil for the visual aesthetic, but its critical in most applications to put a protective clear over it.

Scott:
Thanks. That photo of your kitchen counter looks great.
Do you seal (shellac or vinyl) the Watco before applying the waterborne clear?
I am not real comfortable applying waterborne over solvent based coatings without a sealer so I just use Shellac (amber etc.) to add color/warmth to the waterborne coating

 

[Scott B.]

Tim

I like nothing better on cherry than Watco danish oil for the visual aesthetic, but its critical in most applications to put a protective clear over it.

Scott:
Thanks. That photo of your kitchen counter looks great.
Do you seal (shellac or vinyl) the Watco before applying the waterborne clear?
I am not real comfortable applying waterborne over solvent based coatings without a sealer so I just use Shellac (amber etc.) to add color/warmth to the waterborne coating

Thanks Tim. My kitchen was in BHG a few years back, so I have some good pics of it.

Just to be clear, my kitchen tops were done with watco and oil poly many years ago. It was before my paradigm shift to predominantly wb systems. If I did it again, I would still do the watco on cherry, and yes, I am a huge fan of shellac sanding sealer as an intermediate coat in that situation. I think I posted a while ago some oak tops we did on a job where I did 2 coats of shellac and then 2 of ultramax. I love the way finishes skate on that sealer. Its hard, but buttery smooth. So, yes, absolutely. I have definitely done watco straight to wb (as in the case of the cherry rail system posted above), but the preferred method would be a shellac sandwich.