Woodworking

6215 readers

1 users here now

A handmade home for woodworkers and admirers of woodworkers. Our community icon is submitted by @[email protected] whose father was inspired to start woodworking by Norm and the New Yankee Workshop.

founded 2 years ago

MODERATORS

[email protected]

Any ideas what type of finish was layered over the years on this picnic table? (lemmy.world)

submitted 6 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

15 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I'm guessing this is the result of layers of slathering a fresh layer of finish on these tables. To be honest, I kind of like the look. Any idea what type of finish this might be?

Here's a slightly different angle:

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Polyurethane, a pretty common plastic, which is usually in a volatile solvent but can also be water based. Its very cheap and easy to apply. It adds new material to the surface every time and is often pretty thick. Oil soaks into wood and doesn't protect the surface from mechanical damage. Its also expensive and difficult to apply. The low spots are where the decades of plastic have chipped away revealing the original wood. If you got a sample from the high spots you could count the layers like rings in the wood and figure out when the put the bench in.