Cabinet built, finish suggestions please.

[gahult]

I have my first cabinet built, it's made out of oak. Any suggestions for a nice finish would be appreciated. I would like a high gloss finish, and was leaning toward a polyurethane maybe.

Thanks
Gary

[Allynmey]

looks like oak. Honey colored stain and lacquer. The grain is a bitch to fill so a smooth finish is out. I've seen some beautiful Oak Wreck cabs! That is a nice job!

[dartanion]

Since it's oak, fuming would be cool option. That's what Gustav Stickley, Green and Green, MacIntosh, and all the other arts and crafts designers used to get that finish. Simply a rubbermaid bin with a small layer of ammonia in the bottom. Put a non wicking material in the bottom to keep wood out of the liquid. All you do is set the piece into the container and let the fumes color the wood. Experiment with scrap to find the color you like.

[gahult]

Thanks
Yes, it is very open grained, and oh so wonderful to cut.
I had my hands full with the miter joints as all I had was my radial arm saw for that. A miter saw would help. I put biscuits in the miters 3 in each, and 3 in the top and 2 in each end of the front face. That should hold it.
I set my table saw on 7 1/2 degrees for the bevel on the front face and it came out to 1/2 in wide at the bottom and 2 in. high first pass. Got lucky on that one. Thanks for the input. Any more would be welcomed.

Gary

[Munga]

If your going to gig with it, Poly would probably be a tad more durable. However, I personally like the look of lacquer better.

[jjman]

My head is red oak with red oak stain and gloss poly. I think walnut would look nice too on yours.


[img445]http://home.comcast.net/~jjsant3250/Head-Fr-2.JPG[/img]

[gahult]

Oh,
Was gonna say I do have a piece of Cherry for another, but I didn't want to start with that for my first attempt. Hope it's easier to cut and work with than the oak. Not a lot of grain in it, so it will probably be a kind of plain jane looking affair when it's done. Not much for lumber yards in the area. So I may have to take a road trip to the bigger cities to find some nice wood to work with.
Later
Gary

[racerx23]

Hi gahult

You could get it finished to exactly match your guitar
that would look cool !!!

If you look at some of geetarpickers pics you will see how
nicely his 59 les paul and original express look together.

Cheers, Craig.

[joebob]

Oak can be smoothed out with a wood filler, just more work. I like a Gel Stain on oak, Bartleys does a good job. Then 3 or coats of a Gel Poly will really make it nice. here is a link on some finishing techniques.

http://www.homesteadfinishing.com/

Look under articles at the top of the page and he has a nice way to finish oak in a Mission look.

Dave

[dartanion]

That's a decent article Dave, however it is an approximation of the Stickley finish. Stickley used fuming on his oak pieces, where most people use stains for a Stickley look. Either way, it's a great look

[dartanion]

dp

[sst4270]

I'm a strong proponent of Tung Oil finish.
It penetrates the grain well.
It imparts a very slight tint without coloring the wood.
Very easy to rub on. Mulitple coats can be applied in a matter of hours.
After several coats it can be polished to fairly glossy finish.
It handles stains extremely well.
Repair work is simple light sanding and spot application of tung oil.
It really shows off the grain.
It does have an odor that takes a couple of weeks to evaporate.
Polyurethane and Lacquer are a bitch to fix dings and difficult to get glassy smooth without multiple coats and sandings in between coats.

Latest example of tung oil on teak below. Sanded to 1000 grit. Then three coats of tung oil plus a wax coat. I purposely didn't go with the deep glossy finish on this one. With more coats it's possible to achieve a beautiful glossy finish.

[dartanion]

I do mostly oil and wax finishes myself as they are nice looking and easy to touch up dings or flaws. It also lets the wood breathe whereas poly tends to deaden the tone on speaker cabs.

[joebob]

I agree the article was an approximation of the Sticley finish. I did not want to recommend the use of 26% aqua ammonia to someone who may not be familiar with it, since it is toxic. Besides Stickley's furniture was primarily 'white oak' which has a high tannic acid content that lends itself to fuming. Red oak does not have a high tannic acid content and does not lend itself to fuming. You can buy tannic acid and brush it on white oak but it is not quite the same as fuming. I normally do not use tung oil on oak because of the open grain, (due to bleed out of the open pores) I prefer a stain and poly, since it is fool proof, and easy for me to apply. I like gel stains because they are probably the easiest finish to apply due to the medium in which the stains are carried. The gel poly is extremely forgiving as all the gel stains are. The only caution with poly is the amount of coats, 3 thin wiped on coats is PLENTY, more than that and you get a plastic looking finish.

Tung oil and wax are also easy to apply and looks fantastic on just about any wood. I prefer Waterlox oil and Liberon Black Bison in neutral for wax, the wax comes in different colors too. The key to any finish is thin coats, hand applied, except for lacquer.

Another alternative is 'Dyeing' wood, thats a whole other topic.

Beautiful cabinet by the way, the joints look very tight and biscuits are great to work with.


Dave

[dartanion]

I'm a big proponent of biscuits. Dovetails are cool, but tear-out can make it cost prohibitive. You have to screw up bad with biscuits for it to not work. I am tinkering with hand cut dovetails for a couple of cabs just for fun. There is also this mortise and tenon cab idea I've had for a while. Too many ideas and not enough hours in the day.

Thanks for the comment on the cab.

I am finishing a flame maple with koa front Wreck cab right now. Looks pretty nice right now. This will also get an oil/wax finish.