Oils Vs Polyurethane

[hellofellow]

Hi Guys,

Really new to this...

My understanding so far is there is polyurethane and the like for a clear finish, oil and water based,( to differing degrees of gloss), or stains with incorporated finish.

What about oils? I keep seeing people saying they use tung/danish oil and the finish looks great. Is this instead of poly, or do you still apply poly after for durability?

Cheers

[LGS]

Hello HelloFellow Fellow,
Yes you can get a brilliant finish using Tung Oil, or Scandinavian Oil or certain Danish oils without the need for Polyurethane. There's a certain amount of work required, but the results, in my opinion, are worth it.
The pictures below are all of Oil finished wood.

Regards,

Rob

[Master Splinter]

My take is that poly looks great in years 1-2, good in years 2-3, ok in years 3-4, pretty ordinary in 4-5, and shabby by 5-6. Then you have to sand back to bare timber and start all over again.

Oil looks good in years 1-2, good in years 2-3, good in years 3-4, good in years 4-5, good in years 5-6, good in years 6-7, good in years 7-8... By about year 30-40 it's had time to fall out of fashion and come back into fashion and needs a really good clean and polish and decent reoil.

[hellofellow]

Thanks guys,

I have now experimented with both.
Taken a liking to Danish oil with a was finish.

So where does Shelac fit in compared to poly?

[hellofellow]

And for that matter - laquer?

[rsser]

The typical 'oil' finish (and that goes under many brand names) is likely to include a resin, poly or alkyd.

If you want a pure oil finish then go hunting, read the makers' tech sheets and get prepared to be obsessive

Shellac vs 'poly': asking that question here is a bit on the lazy side. Google is your friend.