Michael Dresdner

Q: We are in the process of making a dining room table out of solid padauk and purpleheart, and wanted to know the best way to finish it. We would love to be able to keep the colors of the natural wood, without ambering over time. A clear, durable finish would be great as well.
A: For a clear durable finish that will not amber over time use a waterbased polyurethane. It goes on clear and will not amber. For more durability, use a cross linking waterbased floor finish. However, neither of those will prevent the sun fading the wood. For that you’d want an exterior waterbased finish that contains UV absorbers and blockers, but it will be softer and not as durable. Even at that, it will only delay the fading of the wood colors, not stop it entirely. Sadly, finishing, like life, is full of tough choices.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 15th, 2010 at 6:00 am and is filed under UV protection, clear coat, durability, exterior finish, polyurethane, waterbased. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.