Woodworking

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Finish ideas/recommendations (lemmy.ca)

submitted 7 months ago by vowedaloha@lemmy.ca to c/woodworking@lemmy.ca

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I'm planning on getting a hardwood plywood board to attach to an antique(ish) teachers desk so I will have a larger desk. The teachers desk is only ~2.5x4.5' and I'm looking at creating a 3x6' desktop.

My question is, with what should I finish the hardwood plywood? I want to keep/see the wood grain, and would like a finish that will be reasonably durable from day to day wear.

Thanks.

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[–] lemmingabouttoexplode@lemmy.ca 0 points 7 months ago (1 children)

In the first class I took we used a danish, poly, and mineral spirits blend, which is still going strong ten years later. I've been curious about trying this finish though.

[–] vowedaloha@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 month ago

Thanks to all for replying to my original request. Decided on using the finish from the above link (ENCurtis - youtube).

Not as many choices of woods around here as in large cities, I went with a cherry plywood, and the edges are a simple D shaped pine trim. After starting and making mistakes along the way, needing to sand it back down to bare wood and restarting, I got the top done. The trim pieces were a challenge as I 1) have never done any woodworking, so 2) have no tools, materials, or experience. Went through 6 different test pieces to get them finished. Since the trim is made of pine, the grain was very different than the cherry, so any finish that brought out the grain just made it look disjointed. Ended up finding Polyshades and that was what worked for me.

Next summer, will try to make a keyboard tray for this desk... Wish me luck!