The easiest, and it looks very good, is super blond shellac and wax (I
happen to use Briwax). Apply a couple of coats of shellac with a clean
cloth that is fairly saturated. (You can speed the drying process by using
the friction of the cloth on the shellac) Allow to set for a couple of
minutes, burnish with 0000 steel wool, 320 sandpaper or wood shaving and
apply a couple of coats of wax, buffing to a shine between. The whole
process takes about 10 minutes on a 12" bowl.

Deb

Derek Hartzell wrote:

I want a good finish for my natural edge bowls. I've used tung oil, tung
oil mixed with mineral spirit and now use Daly's SeaFin Teak Oil which I
like a lot better than the other two. I also tried Formby's Tung Oil
finish
and didn't really like it. It seemed more brittle and crystalline. I
want a penetrating type with oil, like an oil varnish to protect my
natural edge
bowls. One criteria is a faster build than what I'm getting. Some bowls
like pine and birch may take up to about 7-10 coats. Most bowls including
apple, cherry and maple take at least 4 coats. One member of my local
club suggested TruOil and I'm leaning toward that based on good comments
in the
archives. Any other suggestions? I'll be ordering the Russell CD's when
he intros the new one, but I need to get a gallon soon.

Thanks,

Derek