Re: Watco Wax finish

Anyone use this? Looks promising as a great finish for some indoor benches

>I'm building. One question is there's a natural and a dark. I'm assuming >the dark will darken the color which is fine, but is that true? And how >durable is this finish?

I've used it for years, and still like it. It's best for use over oil finishes. For film finishes, paste wax is a better product.

The dark wax is not intended to be a stain, and won't impart much color to most woods. The advantage of having light and dark colored waxes is that if you use a light-colored wax on a dark, open-pored wood (unfilled), you will end up with whitish specks of dried wax in the pores, which is pretty ugly, not to mention very labor and time intensive to fix. A dark colored wax on a dark wood allows you to let some of the wax accumulate in the wood's pores without worrying about it so much.

As for durability, it will impart little physical protection to the wood. Like any wax finish, it should be renewed from time to time. How often it needs to be re-waxed really depends upon how much contact you have with the waxed surfaces. I have a couple of oiled & waxed pieces that I re-wax at least every couple of years, and others that I haven't rewaxed for more than ten.

I've always just used Watco on these types of >projects, thought about using Poly to "seal" the top when finished, and >might wax the bottom pieces and poly the top, or would that not look right? >I'm using a satin finish from both. >thanks in advance. > >Mike Rinken

As with many things, what looks 'right' or 'wrong' is up to you. But if you end up deciding that the waxed surfaces don't look 'right', it's certainly possible to remove the wax and re-finish with a film coating. Just the same, I'd try some test pieces first, because although it isn't difficult, removing wax certainly isn't something I'd consider a fun, enjoyable, or productive experience.

FWIW, the amount of sheen any wax will achieve is directly related to the smoothness of the surface it's applied over. There are other factors, but that's the biggest one IMO.

John

John Paquay snipped-for-privacy@insightbb.com

"Building Your Own Kitchen Cabinets"

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