Best finish for oak tea light holder

[KeithS]

Hi all
I have been having a bit of trouble with melamine laquor on some oak tea
lights i made, ( pebble shape), once sanded i put on cellulose sanding
ceiler, then the melamine, lightly cut back then use a burnishing cream.
beautiful finish but after a day or two i get a lot of whitness coming
through from the grain. Think this is melamine and burnishing cream
drying out caught in the grain, anyway a bit peed off with it so looking
for another finish, any ideas.
Keith

 

[skeetoids]

Hi Keith,

I make a lot of Oak T light holders, same pebble shape and I use sanding sealer gently cut back with 600 grit and then apply friction polish, but I leave the part that holds the T light natural.

Finish stays nice and shiny with no other marks and works well as a candle holder. No tarnishing or burning of finish either.

Cheers,

Lee.

 

[gus3049]

Hi Keith,

I've been using non melamine acid catalyst lacquer for over 35 years and love it. I started using it for guitars and find it hard to try anything else as I like it so much! You can put up to five or six coats on in a day (spray or brush) and cut it flat the next. If you want high gloss it will polish well or use wire wool for satin.

Especially good for oak I find. I like not to use sealer on oak as I like the fact that the grain is quite open. Even if it has a really high gloss it looks like REAL wood. I find that some finishes make the wood look plastic. I specially hate the look of Superglue.

However, having said that I HAVE tried walnut oil on oak for 'food safe' and find that puts a nice sheen on it. I assume it won't catch fire on a tea light!!

Food safe is another subject of course. I've been eating things out of AC finished stuff for years and I'm still here. I remember it being used for pub bars and one sees all sorts of things being eaten off them!

 

[János]

Hello,

You have put your varnish on wet wood, I guess. The trapped moisture will turn whitish any finish. Drying oils are good alternative, as the cured oil film is non flammable, Shellac and waxes are flammable, so not the best choices for a candle holder.

By,

János