Hi everyone,
I just put the 4th of probably 5 coats of Watco Danish Oil (natural) on the cherry high chair for my 8 month old son. I was a little anxious about the oil finish due to the words of woe regarding blotchy cherry finishes, but I was NOT going to stain cherry, so I had at it. I must say, the results thus far are awesome. The armrests and footrest, as well as a few places on the legs and cross members, have some really neat wavy figure. The color in general is pretty even, but more importantly to me, it looks really nice.
Anyway, I'm now debating how to protect the finish, since it will definitely be exposed to a lot of moisture (in various forms, I dare say). I had been planning to use a wipe on poly on the tray, and try some gel varnish on the rest seat and arms. For the base I was going to try to get away with simply waxing.
Does anyone have any experience putting protective topcoats on a oil/varnish finish? Will the gel varnish provide much protection over the danish oil? Should I do wipe-on poly on the whole chair?
Thanks for your help!
Mike