What finish for this mystery hardwood?

[maff]

Hello!

I'm sanding a beautiful 800mm wide piece of hardwood plank which I am going to use for a shop counter. My questions are:

Firstly, Does anyone know what type of wood it is? There are pictures at tinyurl.c o m/c2e6bq and tinyurl.c o m/c97rpn; as you can see it has a very distinct reddy centre and white edges.

Secondly, how best to treat it for a busy shop counter? I considered oiling it until saturated but wonder if that would leave too soft a finish? I read about Osmo HardWaxOil being good for hard-wearing areas if applied correctly and in thin coats as specified on the tin. It needs to be hard but I want to keep the natural character of the wood (i.e. no poly varnish) What are your opinions?

Many thanks in advance!

Maff

 

[maff]

Also considering Sadolin worktop oil. Any good?

 

[Ironballs]

Hi

Osmo will work well, but does only need one or two thin coats. Your timber looks like mahogany or sapele and the pale wood at the edge is the sapwood, so ideally should be removed. You will also need to use a grain filler before finishing as it has very open pores and you won't get a smooth finish if you don't.

Cheers

Damian

 

[OPJ]

If you want a very hard-wearing finish then, some kind of lacquer or Rustins' Plastic Coating would do the job well. I doubt they've give the same 'natural' finish you get from an oil finish though... If anything, they're more likely to go slightly "plastic" or gloss-like.

Osmo also do a Worktop Oil, which you may want to consider. Plenty of people have used their Polyx Oil (less hard-wearing) on furniture with excellent results.

Looking at the first photo, I was going to suggest cherry...

Then I saw this one and, I really don't know.

 

[Woodfinish Man]

As we stock Osmo I have no reason to be critical. However...last autumn we ran a range of tests including putting bleach, 40% alcohol, red wine, tomato ketchup, vinegar, boiling water etc onto a piece of oak. Out of all the products tested Osmo Polyx Hardwax Oil performed the poorest - it showed significant marking with bleach and colour differentiation with the red wine & 40% alcohol.

In our opinion the product is fine so long as customers are willing to have a regular maintenance programme in place.

As OPG says, if you are looking for a finish which will stand the test of time, not alter the natural colour of the wood too much and is available in 5 different sheen levels then you should use Rustins or our Plastic Coating.

Ian

 

[johncs]

If you want a very hard-wearing finish then, some kind of lacquer or Rustins' Plastic Coating would do the job well. I doubt they've give the same 'natural' finish you get from an oil finish though... If anything, they're more likely to go slightly "plastic" or gloss-like.

Rustin's Danish Oil? According to "The Polishers' Handbook" it combines with the wood to make a hard finish.