A joiner friend has made us some very nice solid oak built in cupboard frames, doors and tops that I am building in to two alcoves in our lounge.
STWNFI has decided the natural pale oak colour is how they should stay. They will of course need sealing/treating with something, but what would be the best treatment that will not darken the colour?
You can see how far I have got with the job here
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the next in the album.
Next stage will be a frame around the arch, then some shelves.
All finishes will have some effect - a water-based varnish/lacquer will darken it the least. Some of them give a nasty plastic-film look, though, especially the more glossy ones. My current favourite is the 2-pack Bona Naturale, as it has just a little bit of sheen (20% or so, I would guess) and looks very natural - barely there - much more so than an oil or hardwax oil finish let alone an alkyd resin varnish. I haven't tried the single pack one as I bought it for a floor where I wanted the toughest finish possible and have been using the leftovers. Anyway, as a floor finish it's only available in big packs, but you can probably find an equivalent low sheen product at a good finishing suppliers.
Not a 'furniture maker' John, but I would be careful with some finishes on oak because of the tannic acid content of the stuff, (that's what turns iron fittings black).
Last time I saw a French polisher working on oak (Japanese oak) was in 1967, he first filled the entire grain with whatever filler they used then (to reduce the grain raising), and once dry and sanded, 'rubbed in" [1] several coats of clear French polish spread over about a week or so - when he completed the job, the 'depth of finish' was absolutely bloody amazing - and not a blemish in it. Pity it was a couple of pairs of entrance doors to a bloody great factory though.!
The OP might try and take a look to see if he could find a French polishers or furniture newsgroup/forum out there!
[1] Using a piece of non-fluffy clothe stuffed with something like cotton wool (IIRC) and methylated spirits used as thinners and cleaner -- it was all bloody 'black magic' to me with all the 'potions and mixtures along with way it was done ---- and still is!
I can just about get a halfway decent finish using polyurethane and a brush. :-)
I can vouch for this. If the PP could google for "Treatex", that is what I used. 1 coat ragged or brushed thinly on will bring out the oak colour but will hardly be perceptible itself - it will look more or less like bare wood. 2 coats is still good but starts to look like a finish has been applied, just. 3-4 coats will look mildly varnished but be very very sealed.
Had some oak skirting & handrail installed 3 or 4 years ago. Treated it with Wickes clear satin woodstain and the colour only deeoened slightly. Colour has stayed the same to date.
Don't think I would class myself as one either! Not yet anyway but hopefully getting better.
Indeed, oak can be tricky to finish... not only the tannin, but also the fact that it has quite large open pores.
I would probably go for something like Liberon finishing oil:
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seems to hardly change the colour of the oak at all IME although makes the grain pattern a little "richer". However for Oak, I would not follow the instructions exactly since wire wool on oak is not usually a good idea for reasons that Cash gave!
Pumice powder is sometimes used for the final sand and also to act as a grain filler.
I posted my link to my first attempt at "proper" French polish the other day:
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no means anything close to a professional finisher I am sure, but hold out promise with some more practice. ;-)
I was actually pleasantly surprised after having tried it - not quite the case of "there be dragons here" that I was expecting. Not quite as glossy as you will get with a poly varnish, but its so much nicer to the feel - more like porcelain than plastic wood. Actually quite therapeutic to do, and being quite impatient, I quite enjoyed the fact that you could start the next coat almost immediately after finishing the last.
(I want to have a go on something really fine grained like a Mahogany style wood now - see if I can get that traditional depth of finish that your finisher got on those doors!)
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