Finishing regimen for Jatoba/Maple counter top

[JayCheroske]

I've recently glued up a maple and jatoba counter top (30" x 40"). It's going to be installed in a local cafe where the cash register is located, and where money, drinks and food will be exchanged. It will see some pretty heavy use.

I'm fairly new to wood working, and this is my first time working with jatoba. I really liked how it milled, with little internal tension. Much more straightforward to work with than the maple so far. I've watched Mark's "Go-to Finish" video, and figured I would do a 6-8 coat Arm-r-Seal version of what he did. But I've got questions about the oiliness of the wood, and how to fill the grain.

When dealing with an oily wood that needs to have its grain filled, what should be the first step? Should I wipe on a coat of shellac, or should I use some kind of filler first? And how oily is jatoba anyway? Is it one of the more difficult woods to finish?

The grain fill step has me a bit confused. Any grain filler is going to be tinted to match the wood it's trying to fill (or am I wrong?). But my project consists of alternating species glued together. Making a sawdust slurry sounds like a big mistake. Using a dark tinted filler sounds like it would be a headache trying to keep it off the maple. So, my question is do I really need to grain fill, or will things just smooth out after a bunch of coats?

Thanks,

Jay

[Vic]

I'm not familiar with Jatoba, but it seems if you're using quite a few coats of finish, the pores will fill in at some point. I'm assuming your going for a bar top counter type finish, which is usually quite thick and glossy, rather than a close to the wood look.

[Dan S]

Jatoba Isn't oily.

Based on what it's going to be used for, I would not use a varnish. If you just want to protect the wood, I would apply several coats of a tough polyurethane. If you want a glass smooth surface, I would go with a bar top finish, or an epoxy. to fill the grain and protect the surface.

[JayCheroske]

Ah, it's nice to hear that jatoba isn't oily! That'll save me some effort.

I thought polyurethane was varnish? Now I'm confused...

The top is pretty cool looking (iidssms) and so I want a finish that shows it off a bit. Of course I need it to be tough, so there will have to be sacrifices. I was figuring that with 6-8 coats of the wiping varnish (or more if necessary) I would be okay. I was also trying to avoid the bar top look if possible. But, if that's how it needs to be, that's fine too.