# Finishing a redwood burl



## Matheson (Oct 27, 2012)

Hi. I picked up a nice redwood burl on eBay to make a live edge coffee table. I'm working on finishing it and have purchased some hairpin legs to support it. I sanded it to 320 top and bottom and then applied 4-5 coats of Watco Danish oil. I let that dry for over 72 hours, then started applying wipe-on-poly. The wood has been soaking up the polyurethane, voraciously in a few spots. I'm at about 10 coats now (allowing 6-24 hours between with light sanding) and still have areas that want to soak it up. As a burl, it has varied grain and in a few spots looks like the wood may have been burned by a lightning strike or something. These areas seem to be the most porous. Now to my questions. #1 Can I put any sort of finish over the poly that might penetrate and seal these extremely porous areas or am I better off just continuing the layers of poly until the wood finally saturates? #2 Regarding the live edge, which is very irregular and porous, could I brush on a different heavier finish that would saturate in fewer coats? Maybe even a spray finish? I'm a beginner so any advice would be helpful. The photo below is of the unfinished burl to give you an idea of what I'm working with.


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## ClintSearl (Dec 8, 2011)

The oil and wipe-on was not a good idea, but it's too late now. You can save it by letting it cure for a month, sanding it lightly with 220, and brushing on several coats of waterborne poly. I like Varathane floor finish.

This is how redwood looks with nothing but lacquer.


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## grfrazee (Jul 17, 2012)

I've used it for a couple turning projects. In my experience, sanding it down to a pretty high grit (600 or so, maybe higher) will reduce its tendency to suck up finish, and leave you with a shinier surface.

If all else fails, epoxy might be a good bet too. It'll give you a nice, hard finish over the softer redwood.


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