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Question: I just read your article in the new Woodworking Magazine on Shaker end tables and am going to make a pair. I have one question:
I like the idea of treating the wood with a couple of coats of boiled linseed oil, but I’d like to finish with a satin clear polyurethane. Will this be compatible? I figure that the boiled linseed oil needs 24 hours between applications and planned on 48 between the last oil coat and the polyurethane.
Your help with this is greatly appreciated. I’m just finishing my first big furniture project (a Shaker table made out of Cherry) and it’s looking pretty good, I’d hate to screw it up at this point.
, Sean Clarke, Apple Valley, Minnesota
Answer: There’s no compatibility issues with your finishing schedule , polyurethane can be applied over linseed oil once it is fully cured. The linseed oil will add some nice color. In fact, to add more color, you might want to consider putting on the oil and leaving the tables in strong sunlight for a day. That seems to help things along (look for more on this in a coming issue). I’ve experimented with this a bit over the years and have found that one day seems to do the trick. More than that doesn’t seem to produce much (if any) color change.
However, I’d allow at least a week or more for the oil to cure before you apply the topcoat.
In general, I avoid adding any stain or dye to cherry whenever possible. Cherry tends to blotch because the grain soaks up the color unevenly. In some kinds of cherry, such as curly cherry, this is desirable. But in most cases, it looks pretty bad.
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