beerdog

I have a project made from birtch that I want to replicate the finish on my kitchen cabinets. The cabintes are birtch that that have a clear stain with a white glaze. It is a factory finish from Bertch Cabinets.

Jim Tank

After a clear sealer coat, go to Sherwin Williams and get "White Ash" stain. When you get back home, sand the sealer coat w/220. You can then spray the top coat on the backs of the doors if you don't care if they have the glaze on them. Otherwise, SPRAY the thinned white stain lightly over the sanded sealer. Wipe off as much as you can in the areas you want clear and leave stain to collect in corners and details. Amazingly, we only let stain dry for a couple hours then top coat with a "water white" lacquer or conversion varnish. If you want a premium finish sand lightly again w/220 and apply second topcoat but not as heavy as first top coat. I imagine there are a hundred reasons why this will not work, but We have been doing this on very high end cabinets and furniture for twenty years or so with excellent results.

beerdog

Jim, thanks for the advice. The project I will be finishing is a birch stair railing, ballusters, and some trim work that I just installed. I will have to brush or wipe it on. Any advice on this?

Jim Tank

Do samples first using the products and techniques you will have to use with pieces in place. Get good at the samples first then do the real thing.