B A R R Y wrote in
. net:

alexy wrote:
But I'll make
one VERY STRONG recommendation: Don't treat a project that you are
proud of as a test piece for finishing. If you want to try out some
of these other finishes (and I think I will), do it on shop
furniture, or other items what you will not be upset about if they
don't turn out. Use what you know on a major project.

Right on.

It's not like there's ever ZERO scrap. G


Well, sometimes the project turns out that way unintentionally. g

I did nightstands of cherry and maple in shellac and wax, and they look
pretty good three years later.

I did a cherry Shaker clock in Tried & True Original 5 years ago. Looks
good, if a bit dull. Needs another coat of wax, likely.

For the blanket chest/living room table, that the grandkids hammer on,
made of red oak, I used Waterlox Original - 4-6 coats. That stands up
pretty well to abuse that you may encounter. And it looks pretty good
on cherry as well.

I used a wiping varnish in the master bath on the cherry/maple
cabinetry. Two or three coats of 1 lb shellac, then three or four wiped
on coats of McCloskey's Spar Varnish, gloss, cut 25% with VMP naptha.
Dead simple, low to medium gloss, and pretty durable so far, these three
years.

Alexy and Barry are right. Put this aside, and build seven or eight
other projects to test finishes on.

You can get by with two or three handplanes, but twenty or so is what it
takes for some folks to have a little fun. Same thing for the finishes
shelf. Just don't buy any more Minwax. ;-)

Patriarch,
experimenter at large...