Good finish for stripped walnut chairs?

Linseed oil. Deft, though not an oil, for a little more protection.

Not long.

I would just clear coat with lacquer. jmo

Lacquer = nitrocelluose dissolved in a liquid (lacquer thinner) which is made from various liquids, all made from petroleum. It dries by evaporation of the liquid and will re-dissolve in the same. Deft Clear Wood Finish is one brand and is meant for brushing.

Varnish = a resin - alkyd, phenolic, polyurethane, et al - normally in a petroleum base liquid though some are available in water; they dry by curing and evaporation, will not re-dissolve.

ALL finishes deteriorate and eventually have to be re-done. In the case of oil, re-done = another application unless you let it get really shot.

Tung or boiled linseed oil.

No. IMO

Wipe on some linseed oil, wipe it off. Done. Forever.

Never worked that way for me. Takes repeated applications. I used it often for priming bare new wood before painting and old weathered wood before repair and painting. Except for the weathered wood it was probably a waste of time. Think it hardened that up and kept it from soaking up too much paint. But I liked doing it anyway. Smelled good. I was always wiping it on worn tool handles too. When I built an oak display case I used it as a finish. Takes forever to get a good sheen that doesn't want more oil. Then a year later it wants more oil to get it glowing again, and starts to darken. I still miss the smell and wiping and rubbing it in, but I won't buy any more. For those chairs I'd use clear poly varnish. They won't suck up moisture that way and can take some abuse. Just me. A million ways to finish them. Depends on how much work you want to do.

--Vic

An oil finish such as linseed, tung, etc. may look nice but will not provide much protection. You might want to get the best of both worlds - oil first for looks, let it thoroughly dry / cure, and then apply a film finish. Readily available nitrocellulose lacquer drys very fast but can yellow over time. Polyurethane and similar varnishes are already amber so take it into account in the way the piece will look when finished. Water based finishes such as Polycrylic do not impart any color but you should use some shellac to isolate the Polycrylic from the oil. The water based finishes also dry / cure pretty quickly.

Good Luck.

I use repeated light tung oil applications. Far nicer than stinky linseed oil and cures harder. Impossible to screw it up.

Joe