Hard finish

[Mark Lyon]

Hi all,

Thanks for this great forum. Been browsing for a while now. Anyway, just a quick question. What is the best durable hard wearing finish to give to pine? Would it be a poly or would it be better to go down the shellac road and the wax it? Or does it really matter at all? Apologies if this has already been covered to death.

[Gumby]

I'm not an expert here Mark but give us a bit more info. What is it for ? I know you said durable but I think the answers will depend entirely on the use of the surface.

[Mark Lyon]

Thanks Gumby,

It will be for a desk, this will be used for a variety of things from studying to drawing, and whatever else they decide to do with it. So I'd rather go for a finish that can stand up to most things. Hope this clarifies a bit more.

Thanks

[Gumby]

Well, as i said I'm no expert but for a desk I'd be going polyurethane. Easy to recoat and durable.

[soundman]

poly isnt realy all that hard.

reasonably durable but not that hard.

the pre catalised lacuers would probably be the best place to look.

ther are various brands "mirortone" ect ect.

dificult to buy in small qualtities.

then you get into all the exotic stuff.

[q9]

I'd go for a satin poly as it is reasonably easy to keep up and refinish if necessary. Doesn't show scratches and marks to much either.

[Shane Watson]

Soundman has the money so far.

Though if you have the facilities or access to, acid cat lacquer would be the better option. Better still would be 2-part poly-u but ya wanna be careful when using these hard finish's on timber. Timber moves and the finish don't or definitly not as much. So glue line movement etc is fairly common, but in saying that if you get glue line movement in these sort of finish's you will get it in any finish usually. Acid cat & pre cat lacquers are actually designed to have a bit of movement in them so they move with the timber.

HAve fun!

CHeers

[Mark Lyon]

Thanks for the replies so far.

Wont be able to go down the two part road, so I think a single poly finish has the vote. Any recommendations on a good brand?

Cheers

[Mark Haywood]

Polyurathane would be the go. The urathane bond is very strong, most vehicles, aircraft etc are coated in paint sytems that originate from a urathane resin. 'Poly' means 'Many'. so with a Polyurathane what you have is a plastic coating that contains many Urathane links or bonds thus making it very durable. Also remember that Durability and Hardness do not relate to the same thing. A degree of flexibility inherant within a coating will actually increase the durabilty in many cases.
As for brands, Sikkens, Wattyl are both good. Personally I would go with Sikkens.

Happy finishing
Mark