Tips for finishing a dining room table

[Chris Whitmarsh]

I've looked through several areas of this forum and found bits and pieces of information that are applicable to what I'm about to ask, but nothing exact, so please forgive me if this seems repetitive or was already discussed elsewhere and I missed it.

I am building a farmhouse(-ish) dining room table for a friend/customer.  They chose knotty pine for the material and want the coloring to be the color of Watco Danish Oil's dark walnut color; however, they've stressed the importance of maintaining the visibility on the wood grain.  At first, this didn't sound like a problem as I've used danish oil on other projects, but as I was doing some specific reading, it turns out several people have had issues with danish oil on pine (blotching and what-not).  

I read about using a de-waxed shellac to minimize blotching, but I wasn't quite convinced that was my best option.  So I thought I would ask this question specifically here...  Would it be a good idea to apply a coat of de-waxed shellac, a few coats of dark walnut (colored) danish oil, and then finish with a few coats of Satin poly?

If not, does anyone have any suggestions on another technique that would achieve the requested results?

Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions.

Chris

 

[rodger.]

Take a test piece from your project (off cut) and try the ideas you listed above.  It's a good way to see how it will look.

'One test is worth a thousand expert opinions", as they say.

[Chris Whitmarsh]

Can't say I've ever heard that, but sounds like a winner.

[wtnhighlander]

I think you will be disappointed in the results. Danish oil likes to be absorbed into the wood. If you seal with shellac, the oil won't be absorbed, and most of it will wipe off. I would suggest a dye, or perhaps a dye-tinted shellac, followed by a poly top coat.

Another way to reduce blotching is to sand to a much higher grit. 400 - 600 will usually burnish the wood fibers enough that the color absorbs evenly all over. This also prevent end grain from taking excessive color, so even the edges look uniform.

[Chris Whitmarsh]

Thanks for that tip; I saw a similar tip elsewhere for the end grain.  I will try a few different things on multiple test pieces and see how it works out.