As a woodworker, I'd not put poly on a fine piece of walnut.
Is wipe on poly easy? You bet! Do I even remotely like the finish on a quality piece of lumber? Not even remotely, no. Thick plastic gloss just isn't my cup of tea.
"oil base" does not always mean controlled or banned or harmful or toxic. Most of the oils we use in fine wood finishing are even edible. When you buy them in hardware stores in cans made by Watco or Minwax, they have added thinners and drying agents that reduce their value, and make them hazardous. Linseed is flax seed, you can cook with it. Same goes for Walnut oil etc.
I use Tung, Linseed, and bees wax. Thin with mineral spirits, or turpentine. If you buy pre-mixed stuff, for example, sad to say, Tru Oil, you are paying more for less of the actual oil that coasts $. You are paying more for someone else to thin it with practically free mineral spirits etc. Do these pre-mixes make it easier? Remove some experimenting Yes, I guess it does, but it really is a serious profit maker for those bottling this stuff. These days you dfon;t even have to guess or experiment, as a google search will give you recipes in seconds that are tried and true.
Is wipe on poly easy? You bet! Do I even remotely like the finish on a quality piece of lumber? Not even remotely, no. Thick plastic gloss just isn't my cup of tea.
"oil base" does not always mean controlled or banned or harmful or toxic. Most of the oils we use in fine wood finishing are even edible. When you buy them in hardware stores in cans made by Watco or Minwax, they have added thinners and drying agents that reduce their value, and make them hazardous. Linseed is flax seed, you can cook with it. Same goes for Walnut oil etc.
I use Tung, Linseed, and bees wax. Thin with mineral spirits, or turpentine. If you buy pre-mixed stuff, for example, sad to say, Tru Oil, you are paying more for less of the actual oil that coasts $. You are paying more for someone else to thin it with practically free mineral spirits etc. Do these pre-mixes make it easier? Remove some experimenting Yes, I guess it does, but it really is a serious profit maker for those bottling this stuff. These days you dfon;t even have to guess or experiment, as a google search will give you recipes in seconds that are tried and true.
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