"whit3rd" wrote in message
...
On Feb 4, 7:05 am, "Norm Dresner" wrote:
I'm currently working in walnut but oak and mahogany are also in line to
be
used. I have a variety of finishes on hand including tung oil, salad bowl
oil, lemon oil, varnish, and shellac. Is there any site or book that has
pictures

[SNIP]

Most oil finishes (Minwax, tung oil, boiled linseed oil) are similar,
and shellac doesn't look markedly different from varnish or lacquer.
When you start in on stains, though, the subject gets deep quickly.

You're at least the third person who's said that most oiled finishes are
similar -- and one even said that there was no difference. THIS ISN'T TRUE.

What prompted me to post the question was the experience of preparing a
sample of a single piece of walnut with two different manufacturer's Tung
Oil finishes. And one of them was substantially lighter than the other --
so much so that I picked up a piece finished with it and couldn't tell for
sure what wood was underneath until I looked beneath the surface. There's
even more difference between these two Tung Oils and the can of Salad Bowl
Oil I have. If there's that much difference between similar oils on at
least two woods (walnut and cocobolo), then clearly I can't rely on the
"they're all the same" rule.

Yes, you and others are right that the only "right" way is to experiment
with the exact piece of wood being used and the exact finishes available,
but I'd at least like some starting guidelines without having to prepare a
batch of samples myself on six or eight different woods with the four or
five finishing methods that I typically use.

Norm