polyurethane or danish oil for interior veneered doors?

Hi all,

I'm scratching my head regarding finishing options for the interior doors that I'm using for my major renovation.

I'll be using Corinthian Arcadia doors throughout the house. They use Black Cherry veneer. I was originally going to use four panel windsor style doors, but when I saw these in the brochure, I decided this was the way I wanted to go. I've purchased a couple already and realised they're much paler prior to coating, than the photo in the brochure or on the website.

I'd attach a link for the door style, but the site requires you select a state beforehand. Corinthian Doors: Welcome Look for the Arcadia, ACD5.

I am hoping to achieve the same look as the door in the pictures, so contacted Corinthian to find out what coating they used. I received a reply telling me "Dulux Clear Stain" Looking at the Dulux website, there's no product called "Dulux Clear Stain" Dulux have a number of Intergrain products, but I'm not sure if it was one of these being referred to.

So to the topic. (after much waffling)

Since the doors use a black cherry veneer, I'm reluctant to use any stains over it. I'm guessing / hoping that a coating will bring out some of the rich colour as in the brochure photo.

I've used cedar stain with matt polyurethane for the skirting and architraves and have used Cabothane for furniture projects in the past. I've never used Danish oil though and am wondering if this might give a nicer finish on the veneered doors?

Does the Danish oil give a protective finish like polyurethane, or is it more a penetrating finish that needs re-application after a period of time? I'm also assuming that the finish would be slightly different to that of the poly. And since the doors are pale, will Danish oil likely deepen and bring out the colour of the Black Cherry?

Thanks.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by paulver

Does the Danish oil give a protective finish like polyurethane, or is it more a penetrating finish that needs re-application after a period of time? I'm also assuming that the finish would be slightly different to that of the poly. And since the doors are pale, will Danish oil likely deepen and bring out the colour of the Black Cherry?

Thanks.

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Danish oil typically has polyurethane in it (although the formulations vary considerably). As I understand it, Danish oil is a combination of penetrating oils and poly. So it can be applied like oil (rub on, rub off) but has a tougher finish.

You can rub some methylated spirits onto a piece of the door, and that will approximate the colour after oiling. Danish oil will usually make the timber a fair bit darker than the raw wood, but results really do vary depending on the species and the level of prep.

Tex

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by paulver

Does the Danish oil give a protective finish like polyurethane, or is it more a penetrating finish that needs re-application after a period of time? I'm also assuming that the finish would be slightly different to that of the poly. And since the doors are pale, will Danish oil likely deepen and bring out the colour of the Black Cherry?

Thanks.

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Danish oil is more penatrative than Polyurethane but does provide a protective coating nontheless. I usually apply a coat of wax polish to the finish when I use just Danish oil. Mske sure the Danish oil is really dry before you apply a wax polish though. I usually leave it for a few days. To see the colour change that will occur do what Tex B suggests.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by paulver

Hi all,

I'm scratching my head regarding finishing options for the interior doors that I'm using for my major renovation.

I'll be using Corinthian Arcadia doors throughout the house. They use Black Cherry veneer. I was originally going to use four panel windsor style doors, but when I saw these in the brochure, I decided this was the way I wanted to go. I've purchased a couple already and realised they're much paler prior to coating, than the photo in the brochure or on the website.

I'd attach a link for the door style, but the site requires you select a state beforehand. Corinthian Doors: Welcome Look for the Arcadia, ACD5.

I am hoping to achieve the same look as the door in the pictures, so contacted Corinthian to find out what coating they used. I received a reply telling me "Dulux clear Stain" Looking at the Dulux website, there's no product called "Dulux Clear Stain" Dulux have a number of Intergrain products, but I'm not sure if it was one of these being referred to.

So to the topic. (after much waffling)

Since the doors use a black cherry veneer, I'm reluctant to use any stains over it. I'm guessing / hoping that a coating will bring out some of the rich colour as in the brochure photo.

I've used cedar stain with matt polyurethane for the skirting and architraves and have used Cabothane for furniture projects in the past. I've never used Danish oil though and am wondering if this might give a nicer finish on the veneered doors?

Does the Danish oil give a protective finish like polyurethane, or is it more a penetrating finish that needs re-application after a period of time? I'm also assuming that the finish would be slightly different to that of the poly. And since the doors are pale, will Danish oil likely deepen and bring out the colour of the Black Cherry?

Thanks.

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Maybe it was a typo....... It may have been supposed to read "Dulux Clear Satin".

Cheers Stef.

Am in the process of applying the home mixed Maloof formula danish oil to some jarrah panels. Might give you some feel for colour change, but your results may vary depending on timber and prep.

Tex

thanks for the feedback gents. :)

As Stef suggests, it may well have been a typo. There is a Dulux Clear Satin polyurethane. (Never considered the anagram at all)

I will heed Tex's advice though and trial a section with metho to see how it comes out. I also have some offcuts of the door when I had to trim it for width. (measure twice, cut once still didn't help me with that misadventure, measuring the openings. Had to install the jambs ready for the tiler (in the laundry) so couldn't reset the width of the jambs to be correct after that...) :(

I can try the danish oil vs. satin polyurethane on these offcuts and decide on which finish to go with from there.

Considering the moisture of the environment - laundry with a shower - I'm hoping my preference to try out the Danish oil option isn't the wrong one.

I would endorse Tex B's advice and use the homemade Maloof mix. There are variations in the ingredients and in the actual mix the amounts are not chemist accurate in quantities, approximate measuring is fine.
Advantage of this mix is ease of application and better still it costs less than danish oil. Also you know what you are getting, whereas commercial mixes vary a lot in quality. There is plenty of info already on the forum.

Jerry