Finishing walnut

[gsl]

i just finished cutting a couple of scrollsawn plaques and i'd like to know what kind of finish to use. i've never used walnut before. thanks.

[RonB]

Lots of choices. But walnut does well with Tung Oil or a Danish such as Watco.

RonB

[gsl]

thanks for the info, i have some tung oil i'll try on a sample piece first.

graham

[Bill]

I use Watco Walnut finish rubbed in with the grain with a 0000 steel wool pad. I make tables of red oak banded with walnut. I try to get the walnut as dark as possible while retaining the ability to recognize it as wood and contrast it with a Watco natural finish on the oak.

I find the steel wool to impart a superior finish as my last finishing step is a satin poly. Take your time. It will pay off in a superior finish.

Bill in New Mexico

[Swingman]

I've used multiple coats of an oil/poly finish, hand rubbed, on walnut many times to what I, and others, thought to be a good effect.

I was mildly surprised recently when I combined red oak and black walnut in a project and finished both the way I usually do red oak by itself - slopped on an oil based stain (Zars Provincial 114), followed by multiple sprayed coats of clear shellac.

The contrast between the two woods became even more pronounced (a desired effect), and the walnut turned out better, IMO, than my oil/poly finishes of the past.

In short, I am beginning to suspect that even I can't screw up walnut too bad, even with my lackadaisical attitude toward finishing.

FWIW ...

[David]

I use either tung oil or shellac. Love that dark natural color of walnut! Beats the heck out of oak, for me.

Dave

[RonB]

I also like to play with contrasting woods. I have done a couple of projects using Red Oak and Walnut that was stained with a "natural" oil based stain. The light amber of the natural stain provides a golden color to the Oak and slightly darkens the Walnut while really accenting the Walnut's grain. I usually finish with oil or wipe-on poly.

RonB

[David]

I've taken an oath to never use steel wool again. I use the synthetics. Maroon, followed by gray, then white to bring up the sheen to between satin and semi-gloss. I'm now finding the gray gives a more pleasing finish to those that I've polled.

Dave

[Bob G.]

I use a lot of Walnut and I normally use Watco (light or dark Walnut) & lightly sand the wood while the oil is still wet...helps fill the grain ..finish after it soaks in and dries with a second application using same procedure and steel wool...

Bob G.

[gsl]

ok, here's the problem. the cuts may be too delicate to allow the finish to be rubbed in. here's a couple of pics of what i'm dealing with. these plaques are 11 x 8" in size.

you can see, some areas of the wood will be very delicate and i d>>

[CW]

I did a scrollsaw piece out of walnut a while back. Finished it with an airbrush and shellac.