Finishing a dining table

**jrpski** · 9th February 2017, 01:07 PM

Hi guys,
I've recently made a dining table from recycled pallets, with a trim of Tassie Oak around the top. I had some varnish laying around so without really thinking I added one coat, but then thought I may have made a mistake with my choice (British Paints clear water based varnish satin). I really like the look of it at the moment, the varnish hasn't changed the colour of the timber and it's still nice and light. My only concern is the durability. My question is, am I ok to apply maybe 3-4 coats of the same varnish or should I change to a more durable oil based one that might change the colour (and be more difficult to clean up)?
I'll post some photos later, it doesn't seem to let me on mobile version.
Thanks, Joel

**finishfaction** · 12th February 2017, 05:20 PM

I've not used British Paints waterborne varnish specifically, though generally speaking I have not found oil based finishes to be any more durable than modern waterborne finishes.
Also, If you're happy with the result achieved thus far, why not stick with it?

**Xanthorrhoeas** · 12th February 2017, 07:07 PM

There are some paint chemists on the forums and they may correct me, but, AFAIK, the solvent does not necessarily determine the durability or longevity of the finish, only ease of clean-up. I have used Wattyl water based polyurethane to finish a dining table for my son and it is still going strong after a couple of years. It seems appropriate for a contemporary piece, though all furniture in cedar, Huon Pine etc. fine timbers that I make I finish with shellac (sometimes the Hard Shellac when I want heat and water resistance).

**AngelaPetruzzi** · 20th February 2017, 03:33 PM

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Depends on your usage as to how “durable” the coating is or should be. Typically with a varnish coating it never looks as good as when the first scratch appears. Could you repair the scratch with minimal effort with the coating you are using?
Oil based products may not be far off a varnish coating. Some products just mean there is an element of oil in the varnish. If this results in a layer/film coating then again typically it will be difficult to touch up.
The alternative is penetrating oil that one can actually rejuvenate if or when dry and repairs any scratches that do occur with minimal effort.
Also, if the surface will have direct contact with food, then try to ensure that the coating is certified food safe.
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**Big Shed** · 20th February 2017, 04:27 PM

Angela, could you please use the forum editor or a plain text editor like Notepad as using Word to compose your response plays havoc with the forum.
Word, being a wordprocessor, inserts a heap of formatting codes in the text and your post looks like this in the New Posts/Spy/Activity Stream listings.

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