Finishing with oil vs poly vs laquer

Hey Guys,

This is really a two fold question in that I have a question on sealing and a question on best option. I will start with the sealing one:

The background is that i am using non structural ply for all the doors and draw fronts because it looks a little different and modern. Anyway, I wondering if using oil will seal the timber enough to stop warping compared to using laquer or poly. So this question is specifically about oils sealing properties??

The next question is about the finish options themselves. What is the best/most professional looking finish for a satin type effect that can be done without a spray gun? I am thinking of poly, laquer and oil as the options and which of these are the perfered eg. feat watson etc.


overall these questions are just about finishing a new kitchen that i have build and making it look like a professional job because it needs to look good for selling and as you know the kitchen in important.

Sorry about the large and very broad questions but I am really on the fence about which way to go atm and need to get this decided so i can stop eating junk food again.

Just a quick question rehash:
1. will timber sealed in oil stop warping?
2. which will provide the best satin finish for a home/ possibly brush job.

Thanks in advance and any extra tips on finishing would be appreciated

Cheers David

Minwax Wipe-on Polyurethane (Satin). Available from bunnies. Search forum for a variety of finishing techniques.

Thanks for the response but I was just reading a few reviews on the product that mentioned that it is a thinner product and suited for low wear type surfaces, whatever that means ;). So do you think it would be good enough for a kitchen benchtop from you experiences?

You only mention doors and drawers in your original post - it's fine for them.

More layers mean more protection, and the wipe-on poly is certainly thicker than oil, and will build faster than an oil finish. (leave yourself a good couple of weeks to a month to put on a traditional oil finish).

Benchtops are another matter - what type of timber is it? My first reaction would be to reach for the marine epoxy, put on three coats, then flat it down to 800 grit or steel wool for a satin finish.

Sorry must have forgotten to mention that the doors/draws will be ply and the tops will be hard wood. I don't have much option up this way for hardwoods that have been kiln dried so i cant think of the singular available one atm. So are you thinking that the wipeon stuff would be good for the fronts and the marine for the tops? I am not sure exactly what marine epoxy is though so you might have to be a little more specific. Also, what are you options on feast watson satinproof? That is what i had my eyes on initially?

Also just to finish off, from you reaction it does sound like oil is not good enough for sealing timber properly and takes more time to apply?

Marine epoxy. (use the clear hardener if using it as a surface finish)

As far as Feast Watson goes - I've never used it. If I want heavy duty performance/waterproofing, I don't muck around, I just use marine grade finishes such as epoxy. Otherwise, I'm an oil or spray acrylic guy (I try to stay away from 2-pac isocyanates as I don't own suitable protective equipment to spray them).

Oil as a benchtop finish is ok if the benchtop owner is a keen refinisher (ie will be renewing the oil every six months or so and has a sander handy to help).

With an oil finish, it's a case of 'apply oil, wait for it to dry'. Repeat 4-5-6-7-8 times.

I have been reading a bit more and seen a bit of information on feast watson floorseal which is a tung oil. I was thinking of using that for the tops and had no luck finding the wipe on as bunnings does not stock any more ;(. Anyway do you have any opinions on the floorseal for the tops and an alternative for the fronts ;).

Annoy your Bunnings more, it sounds like they have a bad case of 'don't give a sh*t, you're gunna get what I wanna sell'.

I passed a shelf of it at my local bunnies this afternoon. It's not in the paints section, its with the paint accessories/woodfiller/bog/solvents, typically.

The FW Tung won't really be tung oil, its an oil based polyurethane finish, so it's no different from every other poly finish, in that if you don't have good brushing skills, you'll end up with brush marks. (That's where the wipe-on poly has the advantage - way more friendly to apply)

For a benchtop, you are looking at epoxy for maximum lifespan or oil for frequent refinishing. Poly falls somewhere between these extremes. If you are going to use poly, use a two pack brush-on type, and the best place to shop for this is the local boat store. Why the emphasis on top quality poly? Because refinishing it is slow, messy and smelly, so you don't want to do it all that often.

If you want real tung oil, you'll need to buy it from here or here.