Right finish for a casual dining table?

I've almost finished building an 8-seater outdoor table using jarrah legs with some nice 70 year old 40mm Oregon beams for the top rescued from our extension. I was planning to use a Danish Oil finish as is shows off the timber nicely and has a great feel. I'm a little worried that it might not be hardy enough although it's in permanent shade and cover and is intended for general family use rather than fine dining, I don't mind a little wear & tear. I'd appreciate any suggestions on this as I want to have this ready for Christmas, apparently over a year is long enough to make a table :).

G'day Robb - Doesn't look like anyone wants to touch this one for some reason.

I would be using an exterior, uv stabalised, polyurethane or marine finish. Doubt that Danish would stand up to too much outside. Preferably a full gloss and a number of coats all over.including the under side of the top.

Hope this is of some help.

Cheers - Neil :)

Thanks Neil, I appreciate your advice.
Cheers,
Rob

The guruu has speken, but there are also a few differant brands of outdoor furniture oil. Organoil make one I think, and there are one or two others. they SAY that they are uv stabalised.:shrug: I oiled a door, but it spent the winter being bigger than its hole. :doh:

G'day Robb,
I presume you are in Perth. I have just spent a couple of exciting weekends scraping, sanding and then painting some French doors which were made out of meranti and copped a fair bit of morning sun and did get wet in winter. My conclusion is that wood has a very hard life outside, and a tough and UV resistant "varnish" or whatever is needed. It also needs to be revarnished every couple of years and pay attention to any holes or cracks where water can get in. The water gets under the varnish layer and lifts it off and then the wood deteriorates.

I also thought that if I was going to do French doors again I would go to a yacht shop and get a marine varnish. Might be worth a trip to a yacht club and asking around to see what the sailors use.

The meranti doors had to be painted gloss white :(( because the timber had gone grey and was split, and there was no way to repair the damage while keeping to a natural wood finish. The lesson I have learnt is: Keep the wood protected (revarnish regularly) and don't put off maintenance and repairs until "I can get around to it".

Hope this helps.