# What finish to use for Baltic Birch?



## MichaelJ (Aug 14, 2009)

Hi All, 
I was just looking for advice/suggestions on what to finish baltic birch shop cabinets and tool stands in. I'm in the process of completing my Ultimate Tool Stand which is done in baltic birch and I wanted to put a nice finish on it. I've read many different concoctions of linseed oil/turpentine/Mineral spirits and danish wood oil, etc. I don't really know which way to go as there are so many options and I'm not sure what the benefits of each finish are.

If anyone has any insight, advice and/or examples of baltic birch/finish combinations, I'd love to hear and see them.

Thanks,
Mike


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## SCOTSMAN (Aug 1, 2008)

Polyurethane varnish, not necessarily high glosss . That will last for years, whereas oils will not last anytime before needing a redo.MY£ 3cents.Alistair


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## MyFathersSon (Apr 30, 2009)

DITTO Scotsman's comment.
Thats what I did for my router table.
I'm sure there are fancier ways that all have their benefits-but I just put about 5 good coats of poly.
Why so many? If it gets scratched or otherwise messed up == a quick buff with steel wool or fine wetsanding paper-and it's good as new.


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## MrsN (Sep 29, 2008)

i'll out another vote in for polyurethane. It will out last most other finishes and on shop projects that is a real plus. I would hate to have to unload my work bench to refinish it every few months.


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## Gene01 (Jan 5, 2009)

I use a varnish product from McCloskys called Man-O-War. It's very tough!


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## ND2ELK (Jan 25, 2008)

I use baltic birch for all my drawers and finish them with two coats polyurethane and then wax them. I like them to be natural in color. Thanks for asking.


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## MichaelJ (Aug 14, 2009)

Thanks for all the advice! How are you guys applying this finish? Would it be ok to dilute and make it a wiping varnish?


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## sbryan55 (Dec 8, 2007)

Mike, you can certainly apply the poly as a wiping varnish. I generally suggest making your own as opposed to buying a commercial product. I buy it in gallon containers and cut it roughly 50:50 with mineral spirits. While you can get commercial products basically you will be paying a premium price for mineral spirits. Bear in mind also that, as a wiping varnish, you will need to apply more coats to get a protective build since it is a diluted product. But the application and drying speed of a wiping varnish more than offset the time needed to apply additional coats.


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## HTown (Feb 25, 2015)

Not that you asked, but I was playing with stained finishes on BB. I used clear poly followed by a tinted poly. No blotchiness. It was just a test, but I would have gone back to clear poly once I had the color I was after.


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## firefighterontheside (Apr 26, 2013)

I've used BB one time and I was not as happy with the stain as I would have liked. If I could go back, knowing what I know now, I would use prestain conditioner first. Then stain, then poly.


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## HTown (Feb 25, 2015)

Firefighter. I used the minwax preconditioner and it didn't work for me. That led me to poly over poly. I also used shellac and then minwax oil stain over it. I gave the sample away; otherwise I'd give it the adhesion test with masking tape. The shellac method gave the best results. I mainly use lacquer, but didn't have time to try it on the sample.


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## Dark_Lightning (Nov 20, 2009)

I'm making a tool chest using BB, and was considering oil based paint, since I want some designs on it.

Question- If polyurethane is so much better, maybe I can get it tinted? I'm looking at black…


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## firefighterontheside (Apr 26, 2013)

Hmm, it worked great on pine. Maybe BB is different. On the big pine bed project, I used the prestain, then stain, then dewaxed shellac and then water based polycrylic. I was really happy with that finish.

Dark lightning, you can get tinted water based lacquer from target coatings. I used white and it worked well.


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## Dark_Lightning (Nov 20, 2009)

> Hmm, it worked great on pine. Maybe BB is different. On the big pine bed project, I used the prestain, then stain, then dewaxed shellac and then water based polycrylic. I was really happy with that finish.
> 
> Dark lightning, you can get tinted water based lacquer from target coatings. I used white and it worked well.
> 
> - firefighterontheside


Thanks!


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## boatz (Nov 17, 2013)

I used Arm-R-Seal on my version of the UTS. The torsion box base is regular birch ply, the rest is baltic birch:


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