Hello,
I'm looking for some advice on finishing maple kitchen cabinets. There will be no stain applied to the material -- just a clear finish is what I'm looking for.
In the past, I've sprayed on poly, brushed it, wiped it on, brushed on shellac and varnish. I've also hand rubbed a finish using pumice and rottenstone on a curved staircase I built. The hand-rubbed finish was by far the most beautiful, but, of course, the most labor intensive. I'm not sure I want to go through that again any time soon, especially on a bunch of cabinet doors with lots of little crevices and bead details.
I don't care for brush marks and the reason I haven't spray finished in a while is that I got tired of dealing with the runs and drips. I do like the uniform spray look when everything works out, however. I've been relatively happy with the results of the wipe-on poly given the simplicity of its application and dry time. It seems to level out pretty well before it dries, but I feel I could do better.
When my father used to remodel kitchens for a living years ago, he said many cabinets were finished with lacquer. Is that still the case today? I guess I'm looking for a combination of simplicity, durability and beauty if that's achievable. If I can't find simple, I'm willing to go through the work to get the other two.
Would love to hear your opinions...Links to sites you know or just your own knowledge/experience would be great.
tia
-m