What finish - Sheoak and Jarrah table top

Hey guys, Im working on a bit of a special project, its only a dining room table, but with the bent laminated oregon and sheoak legs , a big slab of sheoak for the top (you should see this slab its huge!...for sheoak) wich features a nice simple jarrah inlay going down the middle.

But the time has come to start thinking about what finish to use.

The slab has some beautiful medullary rays / ray-flakes wich I would love to show off, so a finish that has exceptional clarity/sparkle would be great but it also needs to be tough! It is a dining table after all.

At first I was thinking about doing a combo of danish oil at first and than going over with a quality polyurethane to make it pop, but I have sorta gone off this idea so any thought would be greatly appreciated.

Jordan
jordswoodshop.com | Wood working video podcast

I'm doing a dining table at the moment as well (American oak) and am using a danish-type oil that is essentially a blend of tung oil, vegetable turps and driers. I'm not totally sure that it will be tough enough by itself (although trials with my test piece look pretty promising so far), but my logic is that a) it's really easy to touch up; and b) I can always put a more robust topcoat on later on if need be.

The oil I'm using is recommended for kitchen benchtops, so I assume that it will be at least reasonably durable.

I don't like polyurethane for tabletops as once it starts to wear it looks horrible, and you then have to completely strip it to redo it.

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Originally Posted by NZStu

I don't like polyurethane for tabletops as once it starts to wear it looks horrible, and you then have to completely strip it to redo it.

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Thats exactly the reason I've gone off my original idea of oil and poly.
I've done a test of just danish oil on a off cut and ill see how well that hold's its sheen.

thanks
Jordan

For the fine bits of furniture that I've made (dining table with matching buffet and TV cabinets) I've finished with Waytll Stylewood 30 and then laid 6mm toughed glass on the tops (expensive) but best long term protection.

Try using Wattyl Scandinavian oil.
Prepare surface by dry sanding to 400g, then wet sand through to to 4000g using a ROS. Then add a coat of UBeaut Trad wax after the oil has had about a week to dry. Tough and eye popping as well.

Rob