Best finish for old growth redwood coffee table

[bmuir1616]

I am building a coffee table for my son from a 1-11/16"x24"x42" slab of old growth redwood from California. It has beautiful figure in it.
The slab needs to be trimmed, the edges routed over and the surfaces sanded to say 220 (?). Then it needs to be finished to protect it.
This is a coffee table so it will get some abuse.
I have read that because redwood is soft, a marine varnish designed to expand and contract with wooden boats would not crack (like polyurethane) if something dented the table top.
So, what finish would you all recommend?
Thanks,
Bill

[Pappy]

I did a bar for a coworker several years ago and finished the top with a table top finish bought from Woodcraft. I think the brand was Behrends.(sp?) JR says there is still not a mark on it from the alcohol spills or sweat rings from bottles, cans, and glasses.

[Pappy]

Did a bit of research and the bar was delivered in Dec 2002. The top was finished with Waterlox Crystal Clear Urethane.

[cabinetman]

I am building a coffee table for my son from a 1-11/16"x24"x42" slab of old growth redwood from California. It has beautiful figure in it.
The slab needs to be trimmed, the edges routed over and the surfaces sanded to say 220 (?). Then it needs to be finished to protect it.
This is a coffee table so it will get some abuse.
I have read that because redwood is soft, a marine varnish designed to expand and contract with wooden boats would not crack (like polyurethane) if something dented the table top.
So, what finish would you all recommend?
Thanks,
Bill

If the wood has dried and has been acclimated to it's environment, I would not use a spar varnish or spar urethane, as they don't ever cure very hard, and takes weeks to dry. It stays somewhat soft (comparatively) to cured oil base polyurethanes as it has a higher oil ratio.

Table tops that get used as such need a more protective coating. An oil base polyurethane, oil base varnish, or waterbased polyurethane would be a suitable coating. I've also used two part pour on epoxy coatings with good success. The wood being relatively soft will not provide much impact resistance regardless what coating is applied. IOW, a Maple slab would be more likely to resist impact than Redwood, and be less likely to read through to the topcoat.

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