Red cedar round table

I picked this up last week. It is 4' round and 1" thick. It was covered in white paint but this is it with the paint removed from the top. It looks to me like it was 2 mirror pieces put together. I would like to come up with a way of protecting it and keeping the grain exposed on the top and possibly the edges. I don't see it as any masterpiece needing restoring with white paint on it but what would be good protection and respectful of it age? Also what would be wrong to do so I can avoid thinking of such things.

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Well A: That's a great table. Red Cedar pieces that size are from a very large tree which was likely old growth material.

I believe the question becomes: What are you protecting it from?

If it's going to be used as an "occasional table" or just decorative, then you can be a bit less concerned about protecting it from things like spills and stray water glasses.

But if you think it's going to be used regularly for something like a coffee table or for eating meals, then you probably should take it pretty seriously.

Red Cedar has an exceptionally nice depth and lustre, so it's worth taking some action to bring that out. I think that a good compromise between lustre/shine and protection is a combination of oil finish and wipe-on polyurethane.

My favorite finishing product available in Aus was Liberon Finishing Oil. It's dead easy to apply and looks great after a few coats. You'll want to apply several coats of it (at least 4 i'd say), allowing appropriate drying time between and sanding back with 600grit or finer between coats.

When you've achieved the look you want, apply one or two coats of wipe-on-poly.

If done correctly (which, again, is easy to do), you'll have a great finish which should protect it very well and require little maintenance other than the occasional waxing.

Hope that helps. Cheers,
Luke

Thanks Luke that's a big help. You've really understood what I was wanting to achieve in looks and protecting it. I have always gone for one or the other and never thought about the 2 so I'll be looking at this for some other red cedar I have.

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Originally Posted by Luke Maddux

My favorite finishing product available in Aus was Liberon Finishing Oil. It's dead easy to apply and looks great after a few coats. You'll want to apply several coats of it (at least 4 i'd say), allowing appropriate drying time between and sanding back with 600grit or finer between coats.

When you've achieved the look you want, apply one or two coats of wipe-on-poly.

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You put the poly on top of the oil? Interesting. When I have done the poly/oil finish in the past I've put the poly on first and followed up with FW Fine Buffing Oil rubbed in with 600 grit wet and dry. Then wax.

Another good Aust cedar finish, if it isn't going to see a lot of use, is four or more coats of Cabots Danish oil followed by a coat of dark wax. Allow the DO to cure for a good 24 hours between coats and sand 320 or finer between coats. It's still soft after the 8 hours drying time specified on the can.

Lovely table BTW.