Your advice on an appropriate finish please

Hello Ladies & Gentlemen,

I don't usually frequent the finish section of the forum because I've not really had the need to up until now. As a Darksider I've been concentrating on improving my hand tool techniques and I'm half way through my first major project.

The desk is made from cypress pine and the surface has been jointed but not smoothed. Given my experiences with this timber I plan to use a #4 to smooth it and follow up with a scraper and a light sand. I've found the scraping is necessary as this timber tears out so easily. I'm at the stage where I'm considering a suitable finish and I'm requesting your advice on the appropriate product to give the best results. I've attached a couple of photos of the timber for your consideration.

I was planning on sealing the surface with shellac and then moving to danish oil but will that be hard wearing enough for a desk?

The other question I have surrounds the breadboard ends. These are a different variety of pine (unsure what type) and as you can see in photos is a little bright compared to the rest of the desk. Should I leave this as a contrast or should I try and blend them in? If I am to blend it in, what would I use? I'm not familiar with stains so your clear advice would be greatly appreciated.


Regards,

Denim

That a nice desk Denim. Personally i would sand that down smooth and use only good oil on it. That will show up the different colours i the timber beautifully. Don't try to blend in the ends either, they look good to me. A Desk won't be very high wear and you can easily re oil it later if needed.

I agree with using oils. Not synthetic oils that leave a coating on top but natural oils that leave a lovely glow to the timber and show off all the colour variations.....and if you use it a lot, you can touch it up easily.

read the malouf mixture thread here