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Veneer Finishing - Easiest Way?

PR Audio

PR Audio

Super Member
So, looking for tips on how to finish wood veneer without having to do multiple layers of a top coat. I will stain, that is easy, but after staining the top coat is to be applied. What do you guys recommend that I don't have to apply, sand, apply, sand, and apply. Is there anything that you can just apply and maybe lightly sand?
 
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From what I've seen, most audio veneers get a minimal amount of finish. The grain is usually still pretty open. Try a sanding sealer or some matte varnish.
Is this on a component or speaker cabs?
 
Here is a Marantz 2270 that I refinished in cherry veneer a few years ago. I just used a few coats of Minwax oil based cherry finish and then went directly over it with Howard's Feed and Wax. I started it with about 3 coats, leaving each on for about 20 minutes before rubbing and buffing.

The complete thread is here.

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After checking the mess I have in my garage/workshop I found a product I used some 12 yrs. ago to protect one of the entrance doors to my home. It is made here in Puerto Rico for our climate, and it's called Belle Wood Sealer & Finish. It comes in different stain colors and clear, I have the clear one. I used it then to protect an Imbuia Wood Door, the indoor side of the door has never been retouched, and it looks new, the outdoor side of the door gets full frontal sun from the West for about 6 hours every day for the last 12 yrs., I have only had to reapply once about 2 yrs. ago and it looks great.

So, I tried some on a small sheet of walnut veneer, and it looked very nice, no need to stain, no need to sand, just apply with a foam brush or stain pad or lint-free rag. After applying the first coat all it needs is 15-20 minutes to dry then you can give it a second coat. The product applies milky white, so you now that you have covered the whole surface, then it turns totally clear. It is a waterbase varnish, it has almost no odor, you can apply without gloves, dries super fast, and leaves a hard crystal clear non-yellowing protective finish without altering the color of the wood.

The manufacturer recommends you use a 220 Grit to sand prior to applying, but both times I have used this product I haven't had the need to sand. They also recommend to lightly sand with 320 Grit in-between coats and not to sand the last coat. Depending on how many coats you use, it goes from satin to high gloss just by applying more coats. I applied 2 coats without sanding, tomorrow I will lightly sand, and apply a 3rd coat, and leave it like that. The walnut veneer looks very nice without staining, just using this product (clear).

This is a very nice product that I had forgotten about, plus apparently it has a looooong shelf life, as it is about 10 yrs old and it still works perfectly.

The first pic is just when it started to turn from milky white to clear, the sheen is due to it being wet still. The second pic is two coats dried no sanding at all.
 

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PR Audio said:
So, looking for tips on how to finish wood veneer without having to do multiple layers of a top coat. I will stain, that is easy, but after staining the top coat is to be applied. What do you guys recommend that I don't have to apply, sand, apply, sand, and apply. Is there anything that you can just apply and maybe lightly sand?
Click to expand...

There is no quick fix for a quality finish, but if you wanted to skip the whole "top coat" (assuming you mean poly or varnish) you could apply 3 coats of Watco danish oil which contains some varnish. There would be light sanding in between coats...or what I prefer to do is wet sand coats 2 and 3. I apply with 400 grit wet sandpaper, then wipe with a clean cloth. No dust to worry about. Danish oil looks great on open grain veneer like walnut.
 
I did some speakers a few years ago. After sanding and sanding and sanding some more I stained with a water based stain (wife can't tolerate the outgassing conventional products give off) then sanded the grain back smooth. Finished it off with several coats of bees wax. Still looks good. I would go that route again, sand, stain, sand, wax.

Shelly_D
 
k1creeker said:
There is no quick fix for a quality finish, but if you wanted to skip the whole "top coat" (assuming you mean poly or varnish) you could apply 3 coats of Watco danish oil which contains some varnish. There would be light sanding in between coats...or what I prefer to do is wet sand coats 2 and 3. I apply with 400 grit wet sandpaper, then wipe with a clean cloth. No dust to worry about. Danish oil looks great on open grain veneer like walnut.
Click to expand...

Yes, that is basically what I did, but instead of using Danish Oil I used the product mentioned on Post #4, so far it looks very nice. I applied 2 coats without sanding, now I will lightly sand with 220 Grit, apply a 3rd coat and be done. Will post picture when finished.

shelly_d said:
I did some speakers a few years ago. After sanding and sanding and sanding some more I stained with a water based stain (wife can't tolerate the outgassing conventional products give off) then sanded the grain back smooth. Finished it off with several coats of bees wax. Still looks good. I would go that route again, sand, stain, sand, wax.

Shelly_D
Click to expand...

The product I used is a waterbase varnish and there is no odor, I don't think you can find it in your area, but I'm sure there are other brands in your area with the same characteristics. Though I have not seen any that apply milky white, so you can see where it was applied, then becomes crystal clear, nor I have seen any that is dry to the touch in 15-20 minutes.
 
Here is a picture of the veneer finished with 2 coats of Belle Wood Clear Waterbase Varnish, then lightly sanding with 220 Grit, and 2 more coats without further sanding. The blemish you see on top is wrong color (light walnut not dark walnut) filler that was extremely difficult to wipe off, even by sanding, so it stayed, it was too late to fiddle with it. Next time it will not happen.
 

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Thanks for all the suggestion, I knew there had to be an easier way...Now, if I could learn to do Piano Finish! Also, learn to use my router!
 
Piano finish is a whole 'nother animal.
Routing just takes experience... and even then, things can go awry.
In the wax arena, I just refinished a yacht galley countertop with a product called George's Club House Wax and it looks terrific, and was super easy.
 
Farmhand said:
Piano finish is a whole 'nother animal.
Routing just takes experience... and even then, things can go awry.
In the wax arena, I just refinished a yacht galley countertop with a product called George's Club House Wax and it looks terrific, and was super easy.
Click to expand...

Nice to know, I have always had sailboats, but since mostly racers I tend to stay away from wooden details, except for maybe simple things. Good to know about GCHW.

My router is big (B&D RP-250), so difficult to see the smaller things that need to be done. My father has a Dremel, hopefully one of these days he will forget it at my home.
 
OK...As I have gone along I have learned tricks, how to better bookmatch, etc. The first enclosure was the left one, and the driver holes in the front look like a hack job, but once the drivers are installed no one will notice. Remember this is my first veneering job and I'm working with scraps cut to 5" x 8" size and their border were not cut straight. The first speaker enclosure (left) in most areas you can tell were one veneer piece joins another as to make a larger panel. That one is done, all I need is in 15 minutes to give one more coat of varnish and I'm done; tomorrow I'll fit the drivers and seal with silicone the inside seams/joints of the enclosure, just in case. It is such a hack job that I'm not going to post any pics of the left enclosure until totally finished. Remember that I'm using bare wood veneer, which is a pain to cut without ripping, specially across the grain; solved the issue with blue painter's tape, just stick some across the area to cut, and it works like a backing, then it peels off very easily.

The right enclosure is another story, I did a much better job of bookmatching and took advantage of a nice vein in the edges of the veneer by matching the vein on each 5" x 8" piece. I've only done the front baffle. Also, the driver holes are much, much better, they look nicely rounded. The pic you see is of the right enclosure without any varnish yet.
 

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Clear satin polyurethane, in a spray can, is pretty easy, and looks good. If you do another coat within 90 minutes, no need to sand between coats.
 
Lots of suggestions, will see on my next project, which I believe it will be refinishing a pair of TABAQ I built sometime ago.

Tonight I finished my speaker, I cannot post pics as in AK you cannot use pics twice as in other sites. So, feel free to take a look at Post #15 on the Hybrid OB Bookshelf thread I started in the speaker section.
 
Post all your pics on an on-line service like PhotoBucket (no affiliation), then insert a link in your post. You can use the link as often as you want, and it will not fill up the server storage of AK.
 
ghazzer said:
Post all your pics on an on-line service like PhotoBucket (no affiliation), then insert a link in your post. You can use the link as often as you want, and it will not fill up the server storage of AK.
Click to expand...


Thanks for the tip...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
The simplest is really boiled linseed oil. Rub on and forget it. It doesn't need any other treatment. Tung oil might work the same way too, but I've never used it. The linseed oil will not fill the grain of an open grain wood.

If you have decided to brush it on, expect it to behave like paint, but I wouldn't use it that way on furniture or speaker cabinets. Rubbing,then it is a very thin coating.

For some other uses, I'll dilute it with turpentine for better penetration.

Like all suggestions, test first.
 
Hi to all,

I like Oil finishes, especially on my guitars and speaker cabs.
JBL have some nice speaker cabinet veneer oil finish recipes, from an old brochure, just click on them to blow them up in a new Tab:





Or you could go with a 2 pack Polyurethane finish, as I did on my latest guitar build. That's no grain filler, no stain, just about 8 or 10 coats of clear, sanded back 85% each coat. Yes, that is a chandelier light reflecting in the finish, for real!

My first post and first shot at hosting pictures here, if this works, there should be a thumbnail or pic you can click on to zoom in on it:





Cheers from down under.
 
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