What type of sealant do I use?

I’m wanting to cover this with a sealant but am not sure what direction to go. I imagine polyethylene would fill in the music notes, which I’m not sure I want.

Oil, varnish, a spray sealant of some sort.

Any suggestions?

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Ooooo, nice piece! Looks like a table top.

I don’t know the answer but you’re right, you do need to protect that engraving or it might degrade with time.

It might help to mention what it’s for. Is it a wall hanging?

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I’ve sealed engravings with polyurethane, and it doesn’t look “filled” I use wipe-on satin polyurethane and do very thin layers. I saturate the piece then wipe it off immediately.

In the end, to be 100% sure, just engrave a small sample piece and try it first.

An example:

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I’m partial to spray-on lacquer, myself.

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I like Danish oil, since it penetrates the wood an hardens the surface.

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A 50/50 mix of denatured alcohol and shellac. It’s thin, will fill in grain but not build up thick layers and dries in 10 minutes. You can do 20 coats in the time it takes to do two coats of most anything else :slightly_smiling_face:

I like resin. Do some research as to what type you should use as it varies from person to person and even project to project. Gives your piece a more “museum” feel. I also like boiled linseed oil for lighter colored woods.

You could use a liquid poly go give it the hand waxed look and it won’t fill the the notes or a shellac

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It is a wall hanging - just the base! I’ll be putting lyrics on top.

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