Best Finish for Red Oak

[sean_in_limerick]

Hi Guys,
I am in the middle of building a tv unit out of red-oak and wondering what people thoughts are on the type of finsh - also what products do people use to fill the grain, and what are peoples experience with these?

Cheers,

Sean

 

[edmund]

Hi Sean,

I'm making a piece out of white oak at the moment and am pondering finishes as well. If the wood you have is quite close grained then unless you want a glass smooth finish you don't need to fill the grain - if you have some nice looking wood you'd need to think carefully about colouring of grain fillers and whether you want to stain as well (and what order you want to do these).

As to finish, PU varnish would be the toughest. Otherwise you could go for a more traditional finish (oil varnish, shellac). Depends how many knocks the cabinet will get and whether there will be much heat generated by electrical items.

E