# Finishing Red Oak



## TDK (Apr 8, 2013)

I have finished building this Red Oak shelving unit. I am terribly torn and guided in MANY directions as to how to finish this piece. 
WHAT I WANT is: the colors of the wood (the reds, the various hews of gold/yellow, even some greens are there) to be HIGHLIGHTED of its natural beauty...on pieces of scrap I have tried clear shellac {turns EVERYTHING brown}, I tried General Finishes Prarie Wheat Gel stain and it's pretty, but turns everything the same 2 colors (dark brown {wide grain} and wheat {tighter grain}), then I tried Minwax Golden Oak stain, again, pretty, but two colors.
Stains, shelac, and oils all turn the wood into two colors a dark and light or whatever the stain....therefore not getting what I really liked from the polyurethane...the poly accentuates all of the natural grain colors of Red Oak. How many coats should be used to get the seal the wood as good a shellac or lacquer?:fie:


----------



## jw2170 (Jan 24, 2008)

That's what I call a shelving unit.....

Would love to see pictures of the construction. How long did it take to build?

Does it really need a stain? Would a clear finish work?


----------



## papawd (Jan 5, 2011)

Maybe just a few clear coats of poly,sanded lightly inbetween every coat after first 2 coats....They sell poly now in a spray can which is easy to apply.. have used it on a few toyboxes for grandkids....Maybe even a light coat of redoak stain under the poly ???


----------



## Semipro (Mar 22, 2013)

That is a beautiful piece of craftsmanship well done
John


----------



## dave brewer (Nov 28, 2012)

Nice work! I really like the Minwax water based poly. It won't change the color of the wood and it will not yellow in time like regular poly. It will require a minimum of three coats. You will also go through quite a bit of it. It is also pricey. I think it would be worth consitering, especially on red oak. Once again, very nice job!


----------



## spayne (Apr 4, 2011)

*Rustins clear plastic coating*

Hi,
Have you tried this? It's a two-part clear cold cure lacquer finish, and for my money, the best hard 'consumer' finish I've ever come across. It doesn't yellow like poly (the woods underneath will, of course, change colour in the sun and light). It's not cheap, and seems to be absurdly difficult to find. A British product, so I don't know how available it is in the US.
Being red oak, you would have to fill the grain first, with a grain filler, I would think.


----------



## williamm (Oct 10, 2011)

spayne said:


> Hi,
> Have you tried this? It's a two-part clear cold cure lacquer finish, and for my money, the best hard 'consumer' finish I've ever come across. It doesn't yellow like poly (the woods underneath will, of course, change colour in the sun and light). It's not cheap, and seems to be absurdly difficult to find. A British product, so I don't know how available it is in the US.
> Being red oak, you would have to fill the grain first, with a grain filler, I would think.


Tried What???


----------



## curly1 (May 7, 2010)

*red oak finish*

Hi'
I built a queen size mission style bed from red oak and I am now building red oak nightstands to match. This finish I used was Sico Crystalex 100% Acrylic Varnish semi-gloss and it turned out beautiful, a clear hard finish that I sprayed on three coats using my Fuji HVLP spray unit, sanding in between each coat. seems to be good stuff.

Dan


----------



## Willway (Aug 16, 2012)

That is a nice piece of work!! We are starting to build one of these for my sons office, sad to say it will not be Red Oak (same double window setup on a 12 ft, wall). I have finished a lot of Red Oak. The worst stain I have ever used on Red Oak is Minwax. Once you use it you cannot control the contrast or tone because it has a sealer in the stain and reapplying has no effect. To make the grain really stand out and get high contrasts from light to dark and the in between colors, is to use regular oil stain, then a mineral spirits wash with a rag. I like to use a 1-1-1 mixture of red oak, cherry and mineral spirits. Try it on a piece of scrap until you get the color and tone you want. If it does not have enough contrast then reapply the stain and wash off again. I never use a filler or sealer before staining, when you reach the desired tone you want let it dry for at least 3 days, that is all the sealing it needs. To see what the final finish will look like just run water on your piece of scrap. For the final finish I would use a satin poly, either water or mineral based, but that is just a personal preference.


----------



## spayne (Apr 4, 2011)

Sorry, I thought the title would come up. It's called Rustins clear plastic coating - if you google this phrase it'll show including the supplier.
Cheers


----------



## timthetooolman (Apr 3, 2013)

Beautiful bookcase!!!!! That had to be extremely fun to build..


----------



## gwizz (Mar 3, 2012)

I'm just in the throws of finishing an entertainment / desk shelf set done in maple and Oak and wanted to keep the Maple as white as possible. I used a water based clear / gloss ( they also have satin ) FLOOR Varnish that when you google around a bit you find out water based chemistry makes harder ( more scratch resistant ) surfaces than the oil based paints. All clear finishes will to one degree or other introduce a little darkening ( yellowing if you will ) but it is minimal in your case as you dealing with Oak which isn't white in the first place so you will find it just brings out the grain, the Maple I did while not as white as unfinished still looks white only the grain is enhanced. It took 4 coats with light 220 sanding between but no smell and water clean up. Just because it says Floor varnish doesn't mean it can't be used on furniture and shelving etc. It's great stuff Not cheap though and I did it with the first three coats with a good brush and the last coat with a firm foam roller to be sure ( all coats thin ) and there are no brush marks.


----------



## gwizz (Mar 3, 2012)

Oh and by the way that is a great looking wall unit love the seat in front of the window. Great woodworking.


----------



## gwizz (Mar 3, 2012)

From the project I mentioned above I took a picture of the Maple ( white ) before it was varnished it did not have much highlight to show off grain and after varnishing it looks great. Sorry the pic is just some pieces stacked in a unfinished corner of the basement but you can see how it does introduce some tone but there is no such thing as a totally clear finish. It does bring out the grain and on your Oak it would let the different colours show through and the tone would not even be a factor as the Oak is brown to start with. The varnish is also very tough and scratch resistant as it's designed for floors. I wanted a gloss finish on the Maple bit in the project notice the reflection of the white lawn chair top in the top of the TV stand cupboard ( three tin coats using a brush and then a final coat using a dense foam roller having lite 220 sanding between each coat. 

The water based ( no smell or mess ) floor varnish I used is at this link below but I'm sure there are others like it.

Gloss water based varnish - 160-091-236ml - Wood floor varnish - [SamaN Canada]


----------



## mpIX (May 30, 2013)

Nice work, that came out so white i'll have to remember what you used. 

I finished my last Maple project a bathroom vanity/marble sink top with Cabot's oil based Spar varnish and it ended up a typical wood looking orangish color:\ 
Just used it again on a Red Oak aquarium stand i built, looks better there then on the Maple.


----------

