I have worked alot with cypress and used numerous finishes over the years. Cypress is a wood with natural oily resins in it…which make it very resistant to decay.
I have found the following results:
Drying time varies considerable depeending if it is new growth cypress, old cypress or sinker cypress.
A polyurethane finish is the most durable but sometimes the first coat will take 3 – 4 days to dry.
Tung Oil …any finish with an oil base will dry very slowly.
Water based finish will also dry quickly and allow numerous coats…. and not leave a lingering smell for days that polyurrethane or lacquer leaves. Does not really bring out the beauty of the woodgrain.
Lacquer… dries extremely fast and you can spray numerous additional coats in a day. I use lacquer on the boxes I build and really like the appearance. Looks especially good if you buff with steel wool.
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