Finish on Baltic Birch

Everything Else
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Hey all, I’m making products using BB. I’m considering doing some kind of simple finishing before shipping. I’ll be generally doing flat pack so I’m hoping for something I can do easily to the sheets either prior to lasering or after.

I wiped down some things with Murphy’s prior to taking photos and I liked how it deepened the color a bit and brought out the grain more but I’m wondering if there is something better suited to this. I know things like mineral/orange oil exist so I’m wondering if anyone has tried anything like those other than stain and poly.

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I’ve done both. I like feed-n-wax (citrus/beeswax mix) and danish oil (made of danish, idk).

That being said, my preference is matte wipe-on polyurethane. It goes on easily and dries quickly since you wipe on/wipe off immediately.

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I use Tung oil mixed 50/50 with mineral spirits (which helps it dry faster). I adore what it does to all woods.

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I was looking at Feed & Wax (howard products specifically). I’ve seen it on hardwoods but wasn’t sure how it would go on BB.

@deirdrebeth Oooh that’s gorgeous. I’ll have to look into that too!

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i use feed ‘n’ wax sometimes, too. but my goto (not necessarily for BB, but for my exotic hardwoods) is mahoney’s walnut oil. haven’t used the walnut oil on BB, tho.

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I used to use tongue oil, but I kept getting splinters in my mouth.

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Groan!

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if your tongue is “oily,” you may want to see a doctor about that.

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@deirdrebeth those are great! My granddaughter is getting a guitar for Christmas. I may have just found a stocking stuffer for her! :wink:

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Enjoy! BTW, get the width of the guitar neck if you can. I had to remake one for my sister since one of her guitars had a thicker neck than the other two!

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We bought her the guitar, so it will be here in a day or two! Thanks for sharing.

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Ask a woodworker their favorite finish, get a different answer for each :wink:

I love Odie’s Oil, it smells nice and I can spread it on with my hands without being poisoned by it. A small jar goes a very, very long way. If you get it, also get the Bloxygen to keep the jar from curing over time (it will last that long!). I use it on the back of cut puzzles by spreading it between my hands and then rubbing it into the wood surface so that I don’t deposits in the cuts.

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I use Odie’s for some stuff (kind of a sort of “sponge-worthy” evaluation); but my favorite oil finish is Rubio Monokote. Not every project or recipient is worth the Rubio :grin:

For film finishes there’s nothing like a dozen coats of lacquer.

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