Finish for Tas Oak kitchen benchtop and Legs

[poppamango]

Hi,
I was after some recommendations for an oil for a raw Tas Oak kitchen benchtop. Was wanting a matt or satin finish.
Something that could be easily touched up instead of needing to be sanded later on in life (happy to maintain the finish a few times a year if necessary).
Have heard of livos and Organoil hard burnishing oil. Are these simple to use/ retouch/ maintain for a matt/satin finish? Any others?

On the legs/apron I wanted to do a distressed paint finish, sanding to bring a few different colours out. Was planning to use a few colours in acrylic and was after a protective matt/satin clear protective topcoat. Is a waterbased polyurethane the go, or an oil?

Have heard of mixing non sanded grout in with the acrylic to toughen it up. Anyone tried it?

cheers
Michael

[Wrongwayfirst]

In our prior house we had an island bench in tas oak which we coated with tung oil. It looks the part is an easy surface to keep clean wiping down at least a couple of times a day breakfast lunch dinner mess etc. 8 years old I haven't even thought of retouching it,
cheers

[LGS]

Hi PoppaMango and welcome to the forums,

If you want to use Hard Burnishing Oil, then you can see my method here (http://www.woodworkforums.com/166948-cabots-danish-oil-formula-change/).
The result is a satin/low gloss finish with really good grain differentiation. It will resist heat and liquid spills beautifully. Lasts for years without refinishing and is food safe. If you decide against it, then I would also recommend Tung Oil.

Regards,

Rob

[poppamango]

Thanks Rob and Wrongwayfirst

I will give the hard burnishing oil a go on a test piece first.

I should have been more specific about why I dont want to sand in the future. The Tas Oak is recycled from about 15 beds pulled out of an old hotel and it has a few deep holes (size of a twenty cent piece) in the undersurface (that I have filled with a mix of sawdtust and resin). There is only about 3-4mm of benchtop on top of these). Apart from this, the timber was too good to go to landfill.

[AngelaPetruzzi]

Hi
If you are able to use the timber it would be a shame to dispose of it and oiling would save you resanding it in the future as well as nourish the timber.

If you have not yet completed it, the Livos Kunos range would be ideal.
The counter top oil has the added benefits of being heat resistant to 50 degrees as well, this is able to withstand direct contact with hot cups, plates etc. The Kunos oils arealso certified food safe so can be used with confidence on bench tops orchopping boards etc that come in direct contact with food.


Being a penetrating oil, it does not leave a layer on top to become brittle and restrict the timber. The surface can be quickly and easilyspot repaired or rejuvenated if or when necessary. The products are available in sample pot sizes if you wish to try out prior to applying to the wholesurface.

It obviously wont penetrate over the paint but as it is on the legs, this is not critical.
All the best with your choice.