this post was submitted on 02 Jan 2024
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Woodworking

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Please help me choose a clear coat, I'm overwhelmed (self.woodworking)
submitted 10 months ago by hi_its_me to c/[email protected]
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I made my wife a floating shelf out of poplar. The wood has a nice light color and we’d like to leave it relatively natural. I’m overwhelmed by the clear coat options and don’t have a lot of experience with natural wood look. Any recommendations? Any help is greatly appreciated!

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 10 months ago (1 children)

This is what I like:

  1. Sand to at least 220
  2. Apply 1x coat of spray shellac and let it sit 30 mins
  3. Gently scuff surface w/ sandpaper and wipe clean
  4. repeat steps 2 & 3 two more times
  5. Apply a wax (paste wax is fine) and burnish in with double-zero steel wool
  6. Let the wax sit a few minutes then wipe it off
  7. repeat steps 5 and 6 until you’ve got the finish you want

Ends up with a very soft-to-the-touch finish that’s matte and not shiny.

I did this on a coffee table that gets heavy use and I’ll only probably need to reapply wax once a year. A shelf should need zero maintenance.

[–] IMALlama 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

How does it hold up to sweating glasses and spills? A less permanent finish sounds appealing due to ease of touch-up, but we have young kids... Granted, they're the cause of the need to touch up things with poly.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

Great question: we use coasters religiously on it, so I haven’t found out yet.

That said, I bet condensation from a glass fogs it up pretty good :( Feels great to the touch, tho.