# Walnut Island Countertop = HELP!



## jzanick (Jan 3, 2013)

I have a walnut island countertop that is ready for finishing. I am trying to achieve the same finish as the Grothouse Durata but do not know how.

My first thought was to use BLO and then top with Sher Wood CAB Acrylic Lacquer. Am I heading in the right direction?

See image for my bare countertop and Grothouse Durata finish for comparison. I can't really test on a sample because I forgot to ask for extra material from the milling company.


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## Cato (May 1, 2009)

Seems like you are going to have to get some walnut scrap stock or at worst case test a small portion the bottom side of the countertop to try and match your desired color tone.

Scrap test pieces carefully labeled with what went on them is safest way for me.

I normally use some orange transtint dye on my walnut followed by some amber dewaxed shellac. Over that I use a water based poly or waterlox original.

I am not a real fan of BLO, so I haven't ever used it on anything but SYP.

I don't have experience with the acrylic lacquer so I can't comment.

Charles Neil is found on this forum from time to time and you might want to send him a PM to get his advice.


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## jzanick (Jan 3, 2013)

Thanks @Cato for the response. Haven't found much online about using acrylic lacquer for countertops.

We don't want to already dark walnut to go any darker. How about just using Waterlox on the bare wood?


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## CharlesNeil (Oct 21, 2007)

Walnut is Walnut, meaning unless you're going to dye it or stain it nothing is really going to darken it very much. An oil would however be more likely to darken the wood. Oils can react with different woods. That's why a clear oil can blotch cherry. However Walnut is not blotch prone. But I notice you have some sapwood, that can react to some degree with an oil. It can often make it a little more "tan". Slower drying oils such as B L O can react more than a varnish oil, such as Arm R Seal, or Formbys Tung oil.

I agree you need to experiment a little, just to make sure you're getting the color your looking for. If you use an oil be sure to let it dry well. Well means in the case of boiled linseed oil a week. In the case of one of the varnish oils 48 hours.

My choice would be as stated above, a base coat of either a Amber or Garnet shellac, which has a orange/amber tint to it really looks good on Walnut. The issue will be how it will look on the sapwood. Even though Walnut is not blotch prone, the sapwood is. So again you need to do some test. If there was no sapwood I would suggest a coat of Minwax golden Oak. It also seems to add the gold/amber tone.

As to the acrylic lacquer no problem. It should do well, however anything that's predominantly acrylic is going to be more scratch prone. Acrylic creates a hard surface, think of it like glass. You may find a good pre-cat lacquer to be a little more forgiving, as far scratches. The upside to the acrylic is if you get scratches they can be rubbed out pretty easily. A polyurethane is going to be far more scratch resistant than any lacquer, think of polyurethane like a vinyl floor. It's more pliable and less scratch prone.

Hope all of this makes sense.


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## jzanick (Jan 3, 2013)

Looks like I will be moving away from the oil.

I will experiment with Zinsser Amber Shellac and/or SealCoat with Waterlox Top Coat. I am also worried about the sapwood taking up the orange color. I will post some photos later.

I can get all this locally but not the Orange dye. @Cato, does the Orange Dye do much for the wood color? Would like to hear from you before I order them.

Thank you all for the advice. They are very helpful.


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## CharlesNeil (Oct 21, 2007)

would not use the orange dye, not with the sap wood, the orange dye with the darker walnut utilizes the base color of the walnut, on the sap it just be orange .

also the amber shellac at the box store is not dewaxed, not a good choice, seal coat is dewaxed, as well as the spray cans


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## Knothead62 (Apr 17, 2010)

Can't help with the finishing but I'll say it looks great. Saw a maple countertop in a Woodcraft store demo room- outstanding.


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## jzanick (Jan 3, 2013)

I will not be using poly on the shellac. Waterlox will be my choice for top coat.

Have you had bad experience with WaterLox over waxed shellac?

Another idea is to use a coat of the dewaxed sealcoat on top of the shellac followed by Waterlox. What do you think?


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## CharlesNeil (Oct 21, 2007)

I think your getting too many products going, Waterlox is an excellent product, but of all the oils it has the most orange/amber color, on walnut it looks good, again the issue is the sap wood, do a test on the heart wood and the sap wood, thats the only way to know for sure, try it with just the waterlox , keep it simple, and lets see what it does, I think a little color on the sap wood would be nice, 
I just put some waterlox on some walnut and sap, I like it, I dont know how to post pictures on here so I will PM you with my email , I can then email you the picture and you can see it ,


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## jzanick (Jan 3, 2013)

Great Photos from Charles. Thanks a bunch!

Waterlox on Sappy Walnut



















Minwax Golden Oak on Sappy Walnut


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## woodtarded (Jan 4, 2013)

I am curious if the pre-color conditioner from Mr. Neil would be something that would control the blotching issue on the sap wood…..


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## AandCstyle (Mar 21, 2012)

IIRC the color of walnut lightens over time with exposure to light. It might not end up being as dark in a year or so as it is on day 1.


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## CharlesNeil (Oct 21, 2007)

Jimmy,

our prestain would help the blotch, however walnut doesnt blotch usually, the sap can sometimes, in my test it did not, so we are going to test a spot on the bottom of the top . Should be fine, I think, Cherry sap is one of the worst, it blotches worse than the heart wood


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## dhazelton (Feb 11, 2012)

I have a couple of small cabinets that flank the stove with recycled butcher block top. I just put shellac and paste wax on mine and they look fine. I assume you don't intend to use this as a food prep area or else you would be using mineral oil. I'm not into wood looking like glass, but that's just me.


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## Cabletech1 (Oct 13, 2012)

I'm with you dhazelton. I like the natural look of the wood. Why try to make it look shiny and fake. On my countertop I just soaked it with mineral oil and then applied a topcoat of natural beeswax. Water resistant and has a natural glow to it..


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## CharlesNeil (Oct 21, 2007)

who said it has to look like plastic, you can apply a good finish and not even know its there, with no maintence and far more durability than mineral oil. I like my wood sealed and water and chemical resistent, mineral oil is NOT a finsh, its a treatment. Each to their own. If it works for you , thats all that matters.


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## jzanick (Jan 3, 2013)

I finally got around to test a few different finish on the underside of the top

1) Minwax Golden Oak Stain
2) Minwax Tung Oil (should be similar to Waterlox)
3) Zinsser Amber Shellac










@CharlesNeil, you are right! The Golden Oak Stain is really close to the look we are going for. We plan to do a 1:1 mix of Golden Oak Stain and Waterlox for the first coat. And then 3 more coats of Waterlox. The richness the stain gave the walnut is fantastic but we also want the non-toxic Waterlox for food prep.

Thank you all for the input. I will post a photo when it is done.


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## dhazelton (Feb 11, 2012)

I'm confused - if you use it for food prep doesn't it need periodic resealing? That's why I thought mineral oil. Isn't Waterlox tung oil? How far off is mineral oil? The original post's example showed something high-gloss, that's what I thought the desired look was to be.


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## CharlesNeil (Oct 21, 2007)

ANY finish when cured is food safe. If it were me I would use soemthing like Arm R Seal, Formbys tung oil, ( it has the best low gloss look, if you dont want a sheen) or minwax poly oil,or the antique oil or the water lox, after 10 days or so they are totally food safe. these are good drying "varnish oils" , they will seal the top and provide good protection, be sure to do both sides,. on the bottom at least 2 coats., 3 preferred also do not apply the oil to one full side and leave it sit , try to do both sides the same day at least. if not you could see it cup.

as to food prep , this is a a counter top not a cutting board , ( I hope) a cutting board is a different animal, but to be honest I use the same methods, I use a good varniush oil, I just dont build a high sheen or film, I dont like maintence, I like to be done.
Formbys low gloss tung works well, you cant tell it is even there, or General Finishes salad bowl, its also an excellent varnish oil, just has slight more sheen., but I like it alot.


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## jzanick (Jan 3, 2013)

This is the stain+waterlox - underside of the countertop.


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## CharlesNeil (Oct 21, 2007)

Is it what you want ? You can also use minwax special walnut if you want it darker, or inter mix .


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## woodtarded (Jan 4, 2013)

Looks great!


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## jzanick (Jan 3, 2013)

@CharlesNeil I can't thank you enough for the wonderful advice. I would like to share with all of you the finished product.










First coat - Golden Oak Minwax Stain
Remaining coats - Waterlox


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## chrisstef (Mar 3, 2010)

Im looking into a finishing schedule for some walnut countertops im planning on building very shortly. I must say that if my tops come out as nice as yours did ill be one happy camper. Well done, the sap wood really adds to the character of the kitchen.


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## Sanding2day (May 6, 2013)

Beautiful!! So glad this came back up to the top… Would not have considered applying Golden Oak onto Walnut but certainly did the trick!


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## Charlie5791 (Feb 21, 2012)

chrisstef,
Waterlox original
Apply with a lamb's wool pad (like you're doing a floor).
- load the lamb's wool and make a pass. Don't scrub it in, lay it on.
Do the bottom, flip it, do the top
Let it dry for 24 hours in an area with good air exchange. NO FANS BLOWING ON IT or you'll skin the surface and actually SLOW the drying.
3 coats with the lamb's wool is plenty
Don't sand between coats unless you have to get rid of fuzzies or dust.
If you'd like to, you can sand the 3rd coat lightly after it's dry and pad a thin coat on. You can use an old t-shirt inside a nylon stocking. This would only be if you sanded that 3rd coat.


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## Manitario (Jul 4, 2010)

that looks great jzanick! The golden oak really gives the top a nice glow. I'm curious how you attached the ends to account for wood movement?


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## jzanick (Jan 3, 2013)

Actually the ends were added because I measured the length wrong  However, it worked out great as additional support for the 1 ft overhang. We didn't use any corbels on the underside.


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