How to finish huon pine vanity bench tops?

[dick198]

hello all, we are having some vanities made up for our new build and building the casing out of form ply with singly piece huon pine slabs for the vanity tops. I would really appreciate some advice on how best to finish the huon? Lacquer? Oil - if so which one(s)? Varnish? Leave it neat? Its obviously going to get a bit wet around the basin, but we don't want to seal in the smell of the huon and don't really like the look of aged and cloudy varnish...

Love to hear your thoughts?

[q9]

Estapol 7008 is my standard answer...and...well...that's my answer. Honestly wish they paid me per. Either super gloss it, or rub it back with #2000 for a silky low sheen finish. Will last many years...

[AngelaPetruzzi]

Using an oil such as Livos will allow you to still keep the natural colour and feel to the timber. The oils penetrate the timber rather than sit on top, therefore you don't get that "aged and cloudy" varnish look you don't like, and when it does need a spruce up you don't need to re sand the surface. The LINN Bathroom and furniture oil is specialised for bathrooms and leaves a beautiful glossy finish.

[Master Splinter]

Encase in marine epoxy and chuck a few offcuts in the drawers to bring the smell of huon back!

[Toymaker Len]

Definitely the livos over a polyurathane or a varnish.(No disrespect intended) The poly is just a skin of plastic on top of the wood so it may as well be laminex and any repairs involve complete stripping before refinishing. The varnish is much better, easier to repair and still some feel of the wood. Most oils slowly go dark and can attract dirt and fungus but the Livos oil is very fine, soaks in to the surface and builds up to a gloss over a number of coats and holds a natural colour. It smells really good too.