Walnut finishing question

[Mrk67mark]

I just finished making two end tables for my sister out of walnut. This is my first experience working with walnut. I was just curious as to what you guys do for finishing. I have sanded all parts to 220, but have not put on any finish yet, til I do so more research. She wants it dark with a satin like (not to glossy) finish, and I do have some sapwood to deal with. Thanks in advance for any advice.
Mark

[LCHIEN]

there's a couple of ways I think could work well with walnut, one classic way is to just use an oil finish on black walnut, gives it a nice warm finish. I'm talking danish oil or tung oil. If you want you can leave it like that and renew it with more oil from time to time.

And either after oiling or in place of oil you can do a clear oil or water based finish.

[scmhogg]

With Walnut, I like to use a orange dewaxed shellac for my initial coat/coats. Kiln dried Walnut has a grayish tint that becomes a warm brown with the application of the shellac.

You can use just about any finish on top of the shellac. You might want to consider poly for the tops. Who hasn't spilled a drink or worse on their end tables.

Steve

[drumpriest]

I've done a few different finished for walnut, my current method is this....

seal a cell - oil coloration change, wait a few days...
shellac
water based lacquer

I do the oil first to avoid any blue tones that are sometimes evident in water acrylics.

Now, as you don't want a glossy finish, I would suggest just doing a straight oil finish, or an oil/urethane blend that is high oil content, like seal-a-cell. If you go for a poly finish, you'll end up using a satin, which has sand in it to knock down the sheen, it can haze the look of your walnut.

[JR]

This is a very timely thread! I've been making walnut boxes, and having trouble with my usually-reliable satin poly (oil-based). I've had drips, runs, blotching, the whole shootin' match.

Some good ideas here. Thanks!
JR

[cabinetman]

"Danish Oil Finish", or any of the packaged "oil finishes" are basically an oil (usually BLO), varnish and mineral spirits mix. You can make these yourself and alter the ratios to get varying performances.

If I use an oil finish, I may make a mix. I would start with a 50/50 BLO/MS. Wipe on and let sit for about 5-10 minutes. Once that has dried, Wipe on an oil/varnish/MS mix. Or, you could just make a wiping version of an interior satin varnish.

A waterbased satin polyurethane gives walnut a nice look. Whatever you use try it on a sample first.
.

[Tom Miller]

I like wiping on 1# cut dewaxed shellac, for its simplicity and ease of application. It also does a reasonable job of grain-popping. After a few coats, I usually apply a few coats of wipe-on poly for added protection. I go with gloss poly though, as I think the additives for a satin poly are kind of bogus, but I think you can knock down the gloss other ways (abrasives, etc.).

Regards,
[Edit: Oops, I was going to be sure and mention that I don't have any experience with this finish specifically on Walnut. Then I forgot. So there it is.]

[Black wallnut]

First deal with the sapwood. I've not tried this as I usually cut the sap wood away but it should work. Get yourself some Watco Danish Oil, dark walnut flavor. Follow the directions and apply to only the sap wood. After you have a fairly uniform color switch to 100% pure tung oil. Apply liberally for 30 minutes letting as much soak in as possible. Dry off and set in sunlight for a day. Second day use 000 steel wool to sand in as much tung oil as you can for a half hour, wipe dry and expose to sunlight for a day. Repeat until you either get tired of finishing or you get your desired results. Your first three or four applications should seal the pores of the wood. You really do not build up much finish with this method. Once all the pores are sealed it will be nearly water proof. Before even starting you'll need to raise the grain by wiping with a damp cloth. Let dry and swipe sand paper along the surface in one direction to cut the whiskers.

[JimD]

If the end tables will see direct sunlight, you should also keep in mind that walnut bleaches out if it sees a lot of direct sunlight. Using an exterior varnish should reduce it significantly since it will contain UV blockers.

I have 20+ year old furniture that is fine, and 7 year old newel post caps that are bleached out. The furniture does not see direct sun and the posts do.

I've used varnish oil mixtures and BLO allowed to dry a week followed by lacquer. I've also used poly. For more protection, you want a film finish and preferably poly. Oil will warm it up a bit.

Jim

[poolhound]

I have made quite a lot with Walnut and it is such a beautifil rich wood its hard to go wrong with more or less any good finish. I guess it really depends on how you wnat it to look. Do you want a mirror gloss or simply a protective coat that will bring out the color?

I generally prefer to wipe on finish and have used plain shellac or BLO with good results. I have also had great results with the various mixes such as the Sam Maloof one which IIRC is a mix of BLO/Tung/Poly.

For some projects where I just want a simple finish I have applied a few coats of plain wipe on poly and then finished with some wax - looks great. Thats all I did with this project from last year.

http://jrdrmarketing.com/photos/keyboard/

[chopnhack]

If you are interested in going for an aged walnut look, one in which the walnut takes on a lighter color...first start by using wood bleach! I know it sounds harsh, but by doing this you can help balance the colors between your sap and heartwoods, then come back with UV resistant tints or dyes to get whatever color you would like. Finish off with a nice waterbased poly - should give you ample protection for an end table and uv protection as well. I have seen this personally demonstrated to me by Lonnie Bird, I have not done it myself, but this is the method he uses to finish his works to blend in with clients antiques as new walnut would stick out like a sore thumb and would take about 150 years to age properly. He uses varnish instead of poly though.