Finishing suggestions for a Tasmanian Myrtle coffee table?

Hello all,

I am very new to woodworking, and to this forum. A very novice question but, i have recently purchased a raw wood slab that I am hoping to convert into a coffee table and i have noticed that there are two commonly used finishes, oil or varnish. Does anyone know which would be the best finish for a coffee table to resist spills and other mug stains?

I have attached a photo of the slab on my current coffee table (sorry for the yellowish look of the photo). If you have any recommendations at all, or suggestions of oil or varnish types etc, I would greatly appreciate them.

Thanks
Tom

One of the beauties of making the coffee table yourself is you get to choose what it will look like. The slab that you have has some interesting variation of colour. Normally if a piece of furniture is going to be treated a little harder then a hard wearing finish would be required.

There are ways to get a hard wearing finish by using a combination of finish or by burnishing a finish. I have not done any of that as yet.

If it was me and only going by what I have done I would use wipe on ploy.

Looking at that myrtle....it looks very spalted, even almost rotten on the yellower bits.
If I was me I'd use a lacquer on it, preferably 2 pac as it is a hard lacquer and will help bolster the wood.

Don't forget to post a pic of the finished project.:)

I built a coffee table and a TV table from Tassie Myrtle and finished with Minwax WOP.
I do not know how to link to an old post but if you do an advanced search for "Tasmanian Myrtle Coffee Table" with my user name they should come up so that you can see what the finish might be.
Hope that helps.

I have just noticed that those posts show at the bottom of this one.

A nice piece of timber....if you have not yet made and finished the table Tom, you may want to consider a natural food safe certified oil such as the Livos Kunos Countertop oil. Some of the members on this forum have used it with great success. This struck my attention as we have recently finished of a large desk in Tassie Myrtle parquetry (that was left over from a flooring job) and the colour and timber details are beautifully highlighted. Also, once cured it is heat resistant to 50 degree.