[Waterfish]

I found some beautiful blue pine that I want to use for some wainscoting and I would like to protect the wood without covering up the colors and grain of the wood. What can I use to accomplish this? Any tips would be appreciated. Also I’m doing a 1/2 round of sequoia live edge and I would like to bring out the colors and grain of that wood too. This piece will be covered with clear epoxy in the end. Thanks in advance.

Any oil based polyurethane finish will darken/amber or give a yellowish color to the wood. Most clear exterior finishes are oil based. And no topcoat clear finish, even if it is exterior, will stand up to UV rays of direct sunlight. After a year or two those finishes will crack, bubble and eventually peel.

Assuming your wainscoting and the sequoia will be indoors, I recommend General Finish water based (semi-gloss) for a nice finish that preserves the color of the wood. I also like General Finish because it goes on great with a paint gun.

Osmo PolyX #3043 (clear satin) is a wax/oil type finish that penetrates into the wood. Since it does not sit on top of the wood like topcoats do, it gives a more natural finish and you will not notice a color change to the wood.

Here is a link to an old chair that I finished with Osmo PolyX #3043. Scroll down through the thread to see photos of the chair after finishing with Osmo PolyX.

Question for U.S. Navy vets - old 13th Naval District...

I am restoring a surplus U.S. Navy chair that was manufactured in 1943 by the W. H. Gunlocke Chair Company. There are two U.S. Navy tags on the back of the chair The 13th Naval District was formed in 1903 and headquartered in the Puget Sound Navy Yard (Bremerton, WA). Headquarters were...

www.ifish.net

Curious, why are you going to cover the sequoia with clear epoxy?

 

[Waterfish]

Beautiful! Osmo PolyX is durable but not totally waterproof. You may have to touch up parts of the finish that get wet, every year or two. The good news is that it is so easy to touch up this finish (unlike polyurethane finishes). To refinish an area, just buff it with 0000 steel wool and rub in more Osmo PolyX. It blends in with the surrounding finish. With a polyurethane finish you may have to strip down the whole piece and start over.

 

[Waterfish]

if its not going to be seeing abuse like a table or counter top then a would go as natural as posable Tung oil of some type. if it is going to get bumped banged against then a poly of some kind. Also some finishes will change the color of the wood normally for the best but I would test different finishes to find the one that looks best for you

The beauty of Osmo PolyX is that it does look very natural. It soaks into the wood like a Tung oil finish, not sitting on the top like a plastic looking polyurethane finish. It does not change the color, is durable and very easy to touch up.