Natural Looking Bartop Finish? – Viewer Question
This week’s question comes from Doug. He writes:
“I am building a bar top from 8/4 Walnut for my son’s new home, and he wants to have a very natural finish on it – no film finish allowed. My first thought was to use BLO, but some research has led me to think that Pure Tung Oil might provide better protection. Is Pure Tung Oil a better option than BLO for an open grained wood like Walnut?”
And here was my reply:
Hello Doug Sounds like one beautiful bartop!! When it comes to protection, BLO and pure tung oil are pretty similar. One thing they have in common is that neither one offers a great deal of protection. If you had to choose, I would say to go for the BLO, since the pure tung oil will take longer to cure. BLO does have a tendency to “yellow” a wood over time, but that is a non-issue with walnut.
Now obviously your son is the boss here. But indulge me while I make a small suggestion. I can totally understand why he doesn’t want a film finish. I can’t stand the way they layer those thick finishes on bar tops. They should have just used something made of plastic, instead of wood. But there is a compromise between the plastic look, and the natural (unprotected) look. Just to clarify, BLO will certainly be better than nothing at all. But for a bartop, your son might regret this decision after the first few spills.
So my suggestion would be to try to achieve the best of both worlds. Give the bar top a very natural-looking finish, while imparting a great deal more protection than an oil alone. There are a few products on the market today that contain oil and varnish together, like Watco Danish Oil. Because there is so much oil in the mix, you would have to put on about 5 or 6 coats before you really start to get an appreciable film. But applying 2-3 coats will give you a really nice and natural look, while protecting the surface with a little varnish at the same time. And if you go with matte or satin formulas, I think your son will be even happier with the results. The great part about it is, you can look at the surface after each coat and determine whether or not you want to add another. Dilute the mix with mineral spirits if you want even more control. And also keep in mind you can simply make your own oil/varnish blend by mixing 1/3 mineral spirits, 1/3 BLO, and 1/3 polyurethane.
Either way, make sure you sand lightly between coats to keep the finish nice and smooth. After the final coat, either sand with 1200 grit paper or buff with 0000 steel wool. The wood will not only look natural, but will easily repel the occasional spill.
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