Dave Hinz wrote in message ...
On 19 Oct 2004 08:30:40 -0700, Jim Brown wrote:
Gentlemen and you know who you are,

I am building a countertop with alternating cherry and walnut strips
glued together. Due to the sink in the middle there will be some
water splashing around. I like the natural look of walnut and cherry
so no staining.

Good.

Planning to use many coats of polyurethane for both
top and bottom surfaces. Water based or oil based?

I've tried water-based poly now several times, from several different
manufacturers, and have been very unhappy with all of them. Doesn't
have a good gloss, it's not "flat", it's just muddy. Also, it's soft.
I put some on the wood around my shower enclosure, and it needed re-doing
in 3 years; it basically dissolved, didn't peel or anything, just _went away_.

Anything better?
Since I have little experience with wood finishing, please do not skip
any steps you deem as obvious.

As much as Poly is a less-than-perfect finish for many applications, a
kitchen countertop is a very demanding location and may be appropriate for
it. How wide are your strips going to be, by the way? Anything less than
2 inches or so may look _very_ busy, and all you'll see is pattern rather
than the grain of the woods.

I am planning to use ~1.75" x 1.75" strips. Dark - light strips
should make an interesting look.


Also, I wonder if Poly has UV inhibitors which will prevent the cherry from
darkening normally? If so, you might want to give it some quality time in
the sunlight or other UV-source before putting the finish on. I'm sure
someone here can talk to that part of the issue.

I really like the darkened cherry color, so, planning to get a UV
light and darken the cherry for a while.

How are you planning to join the strips together? Glue/biscits maybe?

Just gluing. As an exercise, I built myself a similar top for a
workbench (7' x 24.4" x 1.875"). Titebond III worked very good. I
thought it would be difficult to bond the strips all at once, so I
worked with 3 separate pieces and then glued them together. One thing
I learned was, it was not enough to clamp the piecese only sideways.
To create a flat surface you need to clamp them from top and bottom
surfaces as well. Used a 4" strips for both sides and then removed it
before glue was set. Otherwise they shift around and you endup with a
jagged surface. I planed the pieces but hate wasting wood.

Dave Hinz


Peace.

Jim