Which varnish for desktop

[surfdabbler]

I'm building a computer desk with a camphor slab top, and I'm wondering what sort of finish to use on it. It will be used for 8 hours a day, every day. Will normal varnish stand up to this over time, or should I look to something harder, like maybe a floor varnish or even 2-pack? I'm thinking Feast-Watson satin finish, but if something harder is needed, then I can get that.

I've been loving the finish of white French Polish lately, bringing out the character of the wood, but I'm not sure that I want to polish a whole desktop, and I'm also not sure of it withstanding the constant scratching of my keyboard and mouse.

[Master Splinter]

Any varnish or clear coating will end up being scratched, eventually.

The difference between a shellac/oil/wax finish and a poly/epoxy finish boils down to maintenance.

Do you want it to look good for 1-2 years with nothing more than a dust off, then gradually look shabbier until in about 5-10 years you make the decision to sand back to bare timber and refinish. That's what you get with a polyurethane finish.

Or do.you want it to look good for 6-12 months and then need a quick wipe of oil to bring it back to the original appearance, and repeat this for the next 20-30-40-50 years.

[tdrumnut]

MS your question makes the answer look so simple?

[surfdabbler]

MS your question makes the answer look so simple?

Except that I really haven't had that much experience with French polishing methods, and I don't know whether I'm up to doing a big slab of it!

The other factor is that if I put too much effort into it, I may end up distracting myself worrying about the desktop when I'm supposed to be working.

[surfdabbler]

I've got a bit of nice figuring in the wood - some beautiful ripples in the grain - would a coloured shellac grain filler bring help this to pop even more? I don't want any real colour in the final finish, but in the grain filler might look nice...?

I've also got some big holes, the biggest is about 10mm across, and I've heard that it might be best to fill these with epoxy. Is this the best option?

[Dengue]

Suggest you use a nice coloured epoxy to fill the gaps, and then finish the top with Danish Oil. This can be re-oiled every few years if you like

[surfdabbler]

Suggest you use a nice coloured epoxy to fill the gaps, and then finish the top with Danish Oil. This can be re-oiled every few years if you like

Mmm, interesting idea. I could use Danish Oil, with a polyurethane varnish on top to protect it well. I've never used Danish Oil though. Anyone know if it works well on camphor?

[Master Splinter]

Fill cracks with epoxy (I find epoxy tinted to the natural sap colour works well - doesn't look like a big lump of wood-coloured plastic that way) and oil it. Once poly starts looking daggy, there's nothing that will stop it looking daggy until you sand it off and do it again.

Throw a sheet of glass or plastic tabletop cloth over it if you are that worried about it getting scratched. Or - if you want something with the durability of plastic, just cover it with a sheet of Laminex...they have some nice wood grain patterns these days, and it's very durable!!!!

[China]

Rustins Plastic Coating

[surfdabbler]

Throw a sheet of glass or plastic tabletop cloth over it if you are that worried about it getting scratched.

I'm never doing this again! I'd seen other people with clear PVC table covers, so you can still see the nice table underneath. I thought this was a good idea, until I had two dining room tables ruined by plastic covers. The finishes went sticky underneath the plastic cover and stuck to the plastic cover! Both tables were at our house for a while before we put the covers on, so the finishes were dry. The first one just went in a few spots, and being an old table, we weren't too fussed. Then we bought another nice table and put a cover on it too, and over the course of the next year, about half of the table area went sticky. I had to strip it all back and refinish it. I say NEVER put plastic covers onto tables thinking it will protect them!

At this stage, I'm leaning toward a good poly varnish for it's hardness and longevity, with steel wool and wax for a satin finish surface, with possibly an oil or shellac under-finish, to pop the grain.