finishing my table

xrayjdm

Looking for suggestions on what I should use to finish my egg table. I used Brazilian Cherry hardwood flooring that was left over from my dining room. I don't think poly will hold up in New England weather. Any ideas? :S

Cpt'n Cook

I am from Central MA and used about six coats Minwax Helmsman Spar Polyurethane. It seems to hold up pretty well. Make sure you seal-up the end grain as well. I do keep it covered a lot of the time.

xrayjdm

Thanks Cpt'n. I'll give that a try

Natedog

Very nice, love the door.

Woodcutterron

I know lots of People have reported problems with polyurethane Spar peeling or delaminating on their outdoor projects. This is largely due to less than ideal application.

Different woods are more prone to this than others. On all woods: Control the Dust. This is VERY important. Blow off the dust, preferably in a location other than where you'll apply the finish. Then wipe it down with a tack cloth. Also, it is important to sand between each and every coat of poly finish applied, and blow and use the tack cloth. Cypress, teak and cedar are fairly oily, so it's a good idea to wipe down the surface a few minutes before application of the first coat with acetone or laquer thinner. If you're staining it, do this before staining, and try to apply your first coat of poly product as soon after the stain is dry as possible. Depending on what to use to color the wood, you might be able to do the Acetone wipe down again before the first coat of poly product . It's best to go through the process on a piece of scrap of the same type of wood to see if the stain wil 'hold' against the solvent you use.

Also, it costs more . . .a lot more . . but McCloskeys Man O' War Spar Varnish is a higher quality Spar Varnish than Helmsman. That being said, Helmsman is fine, particularly for something that is outdoors but not directly exposed to rain, sleet, snow, and sun, like on a covered porch. If it's gonna sit in the back yard though, I'd spend the extra money on the Man O'War.

Just remember that with Helmsman or Man O'War (or most oil based poly) Dust Control is very important, because the finish stays "wet" so long that it can accumulate a couple hours of settling dust. You'll almost always get a little, which you can see and "feel" as you sand between finish coats.

If dust is still a problem after the final coat, you can rub the final finish coat down with extra fine steel wool (OOO or OOOO) or even better, rottenstone or pumice. I hope all this makes sense.

Big George's BBQ

Very nice table

3Pedals6Speeds

Cpt'n Cook - What is the wood you used there? Looks almost like ipe?

Where in Central MA, I grew up in Grafton (MI now).