[TexasTimbers]

I've posted this on a couple of other sites and so far no joy .....
These two chests were both made the same year - 91ish to 92ish - out of the same tree. I used a water based PU on the top one as it was all the rage in the WW mags at the time. Big mistake.
The lower one was finished with a mystery treatment. That means I can't remember what I used.
You can see the difference. After 15ish years it is still nice a rich in color albiet not exactly like off the sawmill but quite acceptable. Any ideas on how I figure out what i used are very welcome.

 

[Rob]

Could you have used orange shellac? It has that warm glow to it. You can test by rubbing a little alcohol in an inconspicuous place. If you rub lacquer thinner on it, and the finish melts away, it was probably either an oil-based poly/varnish or lacquer.

 

[Big Dave]

I agree with Rob.

 

[TexasTimbers]

I may have used a shellac, but I don't think it was "orange" shellac unless you can buy an orange shellac that doesn't say it on the can. I would have remebered if I had used anything that had the word orange on it and I'm sure i wouldn't have chose that for fear of changing the color.
I'm fairly ignorant in the finishing department unfortunately. Is it possible it's a marine varnish? How bout linseed oil? I experimented with both of those for a brief time back then on some pieces.
I used Defthane on alot of the stuff and there is a high probability this is it.
I wanted to get some ideas before I threw that out there though.
Anyway, thanks for the ideas.

I have another question. I bookmarked this page a while back and haven't had the time to order a sample. Anyone know anything about it? They are claiming to have come up with a clear UV protector that works. Why do they call it clear and then call it a stain in the same sentence I wonder?
Sounds promising but I am not going to get my hopes up. Most all stains are designed for woods with some sort of brown and not for ERC which has reds, purples, and pinks.

 

[Rob]

You could have used linseed to "pop" the grain. That would also give it the nice hue. Probably any ol' clear topcoat on top of the linseed would have worked to give you what you got today.