# Finish on Sapele planter boxes



## Sawfish99 (Jun 14, 2011)

I am working on making 2 small planter boxes for flowers. They will be roughly a 12" cube with legs that hold it off the ground and designed to put a potted flower inside. The wood I am using is Sapele (because I had it). These are a gift so I don't know if they will be used inside or outside.

My question is: what would you use for a finish or would you leave it unfinished? Unfortunately, my wife popped this project on me yesterday and has to be completed by Friday. So basically, I need to be at the finishing stage tomorrow night.


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## miles125 (Jun 8, 2007)

I vote unfinished. I'd even recommend it be put outside a year to turn a wonderful silver/grey.


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## stevenhsieh (Jan 8, 2010)

If you dont mind maintaining it every year, then use marine grade varnish.
http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/userportal/search_subCategory.do?categoryName=Varnish&category=36&refine=1&page=GRID

If your lazy, then leave it un finished.


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## stnich (May 24, 2010)

If you must put a finish on it one of the best exterior finishes that I've used is Sikkens. It can be tough to find but worth the effort. I use Sapele all the time for interior projects and love the way it looks with a clear finish. It really brings out the depth of the grain in the wood. I've read many a post that talks about drying time on Sikkens. It appears to never really set up to the point where you can sand it and get dust. It's been suggested that you just knock down the raised grain with a scotch brite type pad instead of sanding. Naturally you'll have to maintain it if you put a finish on it.


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## BobTheFish (May 31, 2011)

I LOVE Sapele. It's also one of the few woods I think really looks good with a clear or epoxy finish, which can go well with the dimensional grain you tend to get with the wood. And it can really work with the more amberish finishes, which sometimes can look like discolorization with other woods.

I would suggest the marine quality varnishes or an epoxy regardless. It's going to be hit with water regardless, so may as well prepare for it.


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## zzzzdoc (Mar 6, 2010)

I love sapele also. Lately I've been doing most of my projects with it. Personally, I vote for clear marine varnish, but I do inside work so I'm not expert in that. Epifanes always is rated highly.


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## Sawfish99 (Jun 14, 2011)

Looks like a marine varnish is the winner. My wife would not allow the unfinished arguement. Amazing how much of a vote she gets relative to the amount of time she participates in the project.


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## Sawfish99 (Jun 14, 2011)

The planters are done and being delivered tomorrow. The rails are african mahogany. The legs, panels, and bottom are sapele. The medallion is maple and the images on the medallions were drawn by my kids and burned on by me. I ended up using Minwax Spar Urethane for the finish.


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