Thread: Oils Vs Polyurethane

Hello HelloFellow Fellow,
Yes you can get a brilliant finish using Tung Oil, or Scandinavian Oil or certain Danish oils without the need for Polyurethane. There's a certain amount of work required, but the results, in my opinion, are worth it.
The pictures below are all of Oil finished wood.

Regards,

Rob

My take is that poly looks great in years 1-2, good in years 2-3, ok in years 3-4, pretty ordinary in 4-5, and shabby by 5-6. Then you have to sand back to bare timber and start all over again.

Oil looks good in years 1-2, good in years 2-3, good in years 3-4, good in years 4-5, good in years 5-6, good in years 6-7, good in years 7-8... By about year 30-40 it's had time to fall out of fashion and come back into fashion and needs a really good clean and polish and decent reoil.

Thanks guys,

I have now experimented with both.
Taken a liking to Danish oil with a was finish.

So where does Shelac fit in compared to poly?

And for that matter - laquer?

The typical 'oil' finish (and that goes under many brand names) is likely to include a resin, poly or alkyd.

If you want a pure oil finish then go hunting, read the makers' tech sheets and get prepared to be obsessive

Shellac vs 'poly': asking that question here is a bit on the lazy side. Google is your friend.