[heliboy89]

Hi fellers!

New to the forum here just joined today, I wouldn't even call myself an amateur wood worker but I have a bit of basic gear in a workshop I was mostly gifted... I dabble whenever I'm bored. Anyway, to the chase...

I've knocked together a kids dining table from Kwila wood, had a go at turning some legs on a bit of a hack job lathe I made, it is a little rough, still needs some sanding and attention I know but I was hoping to get some advice on how to finish it. It's for a friend who has a 2 year old boy and another one on the way, she says he will beat it up, probably **** on it... So at least she doesn't mind marks :laughing:

So, anybody have any suggestions as to how to finish it? I've tried poly urethane on a small bed side table I made which obviously is very durable but it had a bit of a plasticy look to it. I've also tried tung oil on another project which looked great on kwila in my opinion but I don't know that it would last well with a kid spilling crap on it. Can you P.E over an oil...? Or anything else anyone would suggest?

Cheers for any help in advance,
Josh

 

[Steve Neul]

I've never worked with kwila. If the wood is oily like teak I would wash it down with acetone prior to applying an oil finish. If you keep furniture polish off of it you should have no problem applying a polyurethane over the top of the oil finish at a later date. The oil finish isn't that much different than oil stain. It just has a greater concentration of linseed oil or tung oil than stain and would take longer to dry. If you do use furniture polish on it, depending on the product you use you will have to wash it down with a wax and grease remover and possibly have to put a fisheye control solvent in the poly to topcoat over it.

 

[heliboy89]

I've only ever worked with kwila so I don't know enough about wood types to tell you if it's oily or not. I've never washed any other projects down before finishing them and they have turned out good. Is there any disadvantage to washing down with acetone in any case? How long would you give tung oil to dry before putting P.E over it? My uncle is a cabinet maker he suggested a vegetable oil of some sort... What sort of vegetable oils can you use on wood?
I will stay away from furniture polish, I'd rather something simple and cheap.
Thanks for your help
Josh

 

[punkin611]

finishing kids table

Good first effort! You could go with "Tried and True oil finish" then top coat it with DEwaxed shellac. IMO a good way to go if the kids might be gnawing on it. good luck. P.S. don't let them drink alcohol as it could take the shellac off!!!