I have just completed a garden bench and need to finish it in a suitable
manner. It is built of a South American hardwood (extremely hard!) and
is very light in colour. Lighter than maple.
I would like the grain of the wood to show through but would prefer a
darker shade. It looks quite good when it is wet.
We live in Montreal so it will be exposed to strong sunlight and harsh
winters.
I tried Sikkens Cetol 1re teak on a test piece. A one coat application
looks OK but the recommended two coat application looks like plastic.
I would welcome any suggestions you may have. I would hate to create a
plastic monstrosity. On the other hand I would not want to be finishing
it again this time next year.
You can see a picture of the bench on the cover of Fine Woodworking No.
198 of June 2008.
Best regards,
Jack Fearnley
On 5/17/2015 9:48 AM, Jack Fearnley wrote:
> I have just completed a garden bench and need to finish it in a suitable
> manner. It is built of a South American hardwood (extremely hard!) and
> is very light in colour. Lighter than maple.
>
> I would like the grain of the wood to show through but would prefer a
> darker shade. It looks quite good when it is wet.
>
> We live in Montreal so it will be exposed to strong sunlight and harsh
> winters.
>
> I tried Sikkens Cetol 1re teak on a test piece. A one coat application
> looks OK but the recommended two coat application looks like plastic.
>
I've had good results with Penofin Oil, bad luck with Cetol.