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today i'm going to simplify one of the
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most confusing topics for woodworkers
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give you actual side-by-side comparisons
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of 12 popular products and answer the
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age-old question if there really is a
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perfect finish to help make sense of
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this i'm going to group finishes into
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three categories varnishes
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natural oils and hard wax oils contrary
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to popular belief varnish is not one
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singular finish instead it's a broad
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group of finishes that create a layer of
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protection over the wood after building
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up multiple coats this is often referred
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to as a film finish so everything you
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see in front of me right now is a
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varnish not just this guy because it
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says varnish on the label varnishes are
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applied by brushing wiping or spraying
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polyurethane seems to be the go-to for
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most woodworkers starting out and
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something like this minwax is a cheap
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and accessible option
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since polyurethanes are oil-based they
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do require a solvent-like paint thinner
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to clean up your brushes if you choose
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that for an application method but a
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water-based poly sometimes referred to
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as a polycrylic gives you the ability to
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clean up using you guessed it
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[Music]
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although i typically use foam brushes
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because i'm lazy so i don't even worry
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about any of that water-based also dries
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faster so you can apply more coats in a
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single day but in my eyes the real
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difference between oil and water-based
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poly is the appearance your piece will
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have after finishing this is especially
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noticeable on the lighter color woods
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you can see that the oil-based
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polyurethane leaves the maple in the
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white oak with a more amber tone while
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the water-based poly has almost no tint
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to it whatsoever on the flip side the
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water-based products leave the darker
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colored woods looking
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also water-based varnishes are slightly
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more finicky and difficult to apply
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because they don't penetrate as well as
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the oil-based if you're looking to join
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the cool kids of woodworking general
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finishes armor seal is a great wiping
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varnish armor seal uses higher quality
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resins which are supposed to result in a
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better finish this is super easy to
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apply it almost impossible to screw up
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you can brush it but most people wipe it
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on because it's already thinned down the
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water-based version of this finish is
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known as high performance okay let's
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pause quickly and talk about some of the
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pros and cons of oil and water-based
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polys of all the finishes these create
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the highest level of surface protection
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because you're basically building up a
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layer of plastic over your piece
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epoxy river tables but since these take
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multiple coats to build up a protective
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layer it will require more overall time
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for a finished product especially when
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using an oil-based product and more dry
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time means more opportunities for dust
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to settle into your piece so you need to
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keep your space reasonably dust free and
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this entire process can take days
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repairing these water or oil based
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varnishes is not super easy and
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typically ends with you sanding down all
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the visible areas to get a consistent
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looking finish again and finally on the
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positive side these are reasonably cheap
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compared to other finishes so when
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should you use these a good oil or water
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based product is an ideal finish for any
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indoor project but where these really
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shine is on high traffic pieces like
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table tops because they can withstand a
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lot of abuse let me get this out of the
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way because i'm sure i'll be asked or
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questioned in the comments every product
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i'm going to show an example i've got
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the full finishing treatment as if this
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were a piece of furniture at a minimum
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all the varnishes got four coats some
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even five to six because finishes can be
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somewhat subjective i got a second even
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a third opinion phew
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and the four wood species being
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showcased are figured maple quarter-sawn
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white oak sapele and walnut looking at
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these four options and the cool hip
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woodworkers are thinking there's a clear
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winner and that's the armor seal
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but that's not armor seal
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yep that's minwax you'll look at that
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the walnut and the sapele look
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surprisingly great and midwax gets a bad
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wrap for looking plasticky but my new
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theory is that's the gloss and the
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semi-gloss products from them this satin
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looks and feels really good and since
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this applies just as easily as the armor
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seal especially when you thin down the
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last coats i'm giving the nod to minwax
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but that's not the end of the story
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anything that accentuates the darker
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woods tends to muddy the lighter woods
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too much if you're looking for clarity
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this will be a recurring theme
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throughout the comparisons on the
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lighter woods it's between the
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polycrylic and the high performance now
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this isn't a perfect comparison because
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i used a high gloss polyacrylic versus
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the satin of the high performance but
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this also highlights what i mentioned
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earlier the poly acrylic is simply
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horrible everything about it looks fake
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and it ambers the maple more than the
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high performance which is the entire
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reason you would opt for a water-based
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finish to begin with so general finish
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is high performance and the minwax
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polyurethane move on another popular
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option in the world of varnish is
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shellac which comes from the secretion
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of the lac bug you can buy ready to use
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shellac or make your own by purchasing
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those bug poop flakes and then mixing it
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with a solvent it is easy to apply you
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can brush it but i like to thin it down
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with denatured alcohol and then wipe it
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on it dries quickly and leaves your
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pieces with a classic looking finish but
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shellac is not very durable compared to
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other varnishes because of the
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durability concerns shellac is not a
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great option for high traffic pieces but
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it's ideal for something like boxes
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shelves or other low contact builds the
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final varnish we're going to talk about
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is lacquer this is typically sprayed and
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there are plenty of options that come in
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a nice rattle can if you don't have an
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hvlp set up like me
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you could also be a crazy person and
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brush it but don't be a crazy person
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lacquer dries the fastest of any of the
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products we're going to discuss today so
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you can build up a lot of coats very
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quickly now one of the nice things about
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shellac and lacquer is they don't
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require a mechanical bond that means you
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technically don't need to sand between
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coats because each subsequent quote
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adheres to the coat below it without any
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assistance when you're comparing shellac
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and lacquer you can see they are
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reasonably close but the shellac ambers
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the maple the most of all these products
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in terms of feel both are buttery smooth
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although you can really feel the film on
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the top of these if i were to choose a
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better all-around finish between the two
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i would take lacquer it's just more
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durable can be used on just about every
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type of build and is very easy to play
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and most importantly is faster from
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start to finish so lacquer advances to
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the final round one last note on varnish
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is if for whatever reason you got
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confused at the big box store and
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accidentally grabbed a 2x4 instead of
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walnut which happens fear not any
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varnish oil or water base can be applied
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over stain once it's fully dried the
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second category is natural oils now
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these provide the most aesthetically
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pleasing and natural looking finishes
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that's because the oils penetrate below
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the surface of the wood unlike varnishes
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that build up a film on top
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application is extremely easy and you
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truly can't mess it up simply wipe them
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on liberally allow time for the oil to
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penetrate and then wipe off the excess a
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second and third coat can be applied
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within a day or so the two common oils
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that are readily available are tongue
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and linseed oil
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pure tongue oil comes from the nuts of
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the tongue tree the downside to tung oil
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is the dry time you sometimes need to
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wait days in between coats but unlike
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linseed oil which we'll talk about in a
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moment it doesn't change color over time
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and is slightly more water resistant but
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if water resistance is a concern natural
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oils really shouldn't even be considered
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boiled linseed oil is often referred to
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as blo this comes from flaxseed and
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dries much quicker between coats
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compared to tongue oil the downside to
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blo is it can darken over time both
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these oils are incredibly easy to repair
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just sand the affected area and reapply
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but wait there's actually a third
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product that is sold as an oil but it's
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not really a true natural oil
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danish oil is an equal parts mixture of
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tongue or linseed oil
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mineral spirits and then a varnish like
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polyurethane the idea here is you get
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the natural look and absorption of the
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tongue or the linseed oil with a little
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added protection from the varnish like
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the poly application is exactly the same
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as the other two oils and gives a really
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great finished look all right so what
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are the pros and cons of natural oils
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visually these are the best and most
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organic in appearance application is
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really easy maybe the easiest of all the
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products but these offer the least
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amount of protection with all those
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factors being considered natural oils
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are best for very low contact builds
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such as bandsaw boxes picture frames and
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shelves definitely not chairs or coffee
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tables if you love the look of the
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natural oils but you want more
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protection you can put a couple coats of
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varnish over the top once it's fully
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dried when comparing these three side by
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side there really isn't a distinct
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difference until you get in close
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the darkest of the three is the boiled
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linseed oil but on something like the
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walnut sapele and even the white oak
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it's almost too dark and looks muddy and
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you lose a lot of that chatoyance the
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danish and the tung oil are very close
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but i'm going to give the nod to danish
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oil for a couple reasons you're getting
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the benefit of a little extra protection
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because the varnish mixed in and it
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dries much faster so the danish oil
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marches on to the finals the final
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category finishes are known as hard wax
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oils now these have become quite the
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rage in recent years if you're
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unfamiliar with this finish they started
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out in the hardwood flooring industry
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and eventually made their way into
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furniture hardwax oils are very literal
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the oil penetrates the surface and bonds
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with the wood fibers and once dry the
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wax creates a reasonably strong layer of
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protection resulting in a buttery smooth
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finish
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application is very similar and easy for
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these two products you can trowel it on
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for larger pieces or simply rub it in
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with a white scotch brite for the
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smaller builds after you let that sit
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for a bit you just buff off the excess
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first up is rubio monaco which you've
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probably heard of unless this is your
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first time on youtube rubio monaco
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markets itself as a one coat finish but
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i've used it enough to comfortably tell
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you it needs a second coat unless you
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want something really flat looking i
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guess rubio dual coat didn't have the
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same ring to it also if you need
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something to fully cure in one week you
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need to add in their accelerator which
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costs more money otherwise it's a three
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week cure time in defense of osmo
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they're comfortable in their own skin
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and market this as a two coat finish and
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there's a noticeable difference between
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the first and second application unlike
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rubio now they recommend 14 days of cure
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time but no extra charge if you're
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familiar with hard wax oils there's a
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third very popular product odes oil this
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is the only finish of the 12 we
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discussed today that i haven't used
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before so i reached out to odis oil and
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they made it very clear they did not
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want to be included in fact specifically
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said please refrain from using us in
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your post fortunately for you whatever i
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do what i want od's markets to finish as
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100 voc free and can be used in food
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safe applications like cutting boards
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now one of the other advantages odis has
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versus the other two is prep with ods
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you can stand up to whatever your heart
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desires unlike rubio and osmo that don't
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recommend going beyond 120 to 150 but i
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always go to 180 with those and never
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have issues let's talk about the pros
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and cons of hard wax oils these are
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really expensive and while our jar goes
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a long way and can finish multiple large
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builds it's still sticker shock
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initially expect to pay 45 to 75 dollars
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as an upfront cost in return you're
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getting the benefits of quick and easy
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applications that are really difficult
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to mess up additionally significantly
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lower vocs or none at all
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these aren't as durable as a varnish
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like poly but if it's good enough for
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hardwood floors it's probably good
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enough for your kitchen table
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and like the natural oils repair is a
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breeze simply sand the area with a
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scratch and then reapply i'm sure you
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guessed it but these are great for any
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type of build large or small even high
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traffic pieces time to pick a winner
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when looking top down at the darker
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woods there wasn't much of a difference
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between the odis and the rubio osmo just
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looked blah
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but a side view reveals a very clear
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winner on the walnut and the sapele and
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poetically enough that's the odis oil
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but here's where it gets interesting
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while youtube would lead you to believe
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otherwise people do occasionally build
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projects out of species other than
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walnut are you sure yeah on the lighter
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white oak in the maple the odis has too
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much of an ambering effect like we've
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talked about earlier and doesn't look
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nearly as good as the rubio or the osmo
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where i honestly can't tell a difference
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i hate participation trophies and split
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decisions but there isn't a clear winner
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here these are all great finishes
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depending on your wood species since
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they all apply the same are very
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expensive and visually have their pros
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and cons i'm gonna settle this debate in
00:11:53
a future video with a durability test
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between the three they all advance to
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the final round we're left with minwax
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poly general finish high performance
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lacquer danish oil and your choice of
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hard wax oil officially the minwax poly
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is the worst of the bunch in fact all
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four options of poly were really
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underwhelming next to these other
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finishes other than high performance but
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that's a bit of a one-trick pony with
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the maple
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the danish oil has a great overall
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appearance but it's not a good
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all-around finish because of the lack of
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protection
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lacquer is so easy to apply and while
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it's fairly durable it doesn't have the
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same natural look and feel of the hard
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wax oils so are these three the perfect
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finish absolutely not the perfect finish
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really doesn't exist because each
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project has its own needs but you
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certainly can't go wrong with any one of
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these or the other finalists test them
00:12:44
out wear a respirator buy
