Wood for my receiver

Eastham

Eastham

More Class-A than ever!
So, a while ago I ordered a piece of wood to replace the original melamine side panels on my receiver, I am unsure of what species wood this is though I'm sure it's oak, so I was wondering what would be the best route to go as far as finishing it is concerned, what type of stain should I get and should I lacquer it or varnish it?

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Very nice figuring on that.

Difficult to tell in that light, but it could be white oak or red. I'm thinking red, with the colour of the background wall.

Red oak is a very versatile wood. It will take stain of most any colour, and retain the look of the grain. As well, the application of stain can vary according to how long you let the stain soak in, and how hard you wipe off. If you are not sure of the colour you want, work up in multiple applications, wipe on-wipe off. You can get some very dramatic looks with a dark stain, showing lots of contrast in the grain. Or, you can let it sit and get a very subtle look.

Lacquer or varnish? Lacquer is very difficult to work with, if you don't have experience with it. For ease of use, and quality of finish, it's tough to beat a water-based polyurethane. Very forgiving.
 
Ah, thank's contrary to the picture its just slightly darker in real life but I would be going for a dark redish stain to match my speakers, I'll just go bit by bit with stain until I get the color I'm satisfied with, hopefully I will be cutting it to size and drilling/ countersinking the holes for the screws tomorrow and after that they will be ready for stain and lacquer, I definitely want to use that knot as it would be a nice prominent feature too. I have car spray lacquer, used it on one of my test speaker's and got some pretty good results, so I'll probably end up using that.
 
So I was thinking maybe Brown Mahogany stain and instead of lacquer maybe waxing, what would be the best way to get a nice reflective finish?
 
A gloss lacquer will give you a shine like a mirror. Wax tends to be more of a 'glow', the reflections less clear and sharp. Both are nice, just pick what you like.
 
Looking at pictures of wax finishes, I kinda like the look more than the mirror finish I was intending at first. Especially like this picture of oak, oiled with linseed oil and stained with walnut stain, then waxed and buffed twice. 100_0841-480x6401.png
 
A Satin Urethane will produce a finish like that, without the ongoing maintenance that wax or oil require. General Finishes makes a very good wipe-on polyurethane in satin. Not water-based, so it dries very hard and durable.
 
The beauty is, the opportunity for experimentation as one side will be almost completely hidden. Further, the end grain will soak and hold the stain more so than the other surfaces and come out darker. Go slow.
 
Once you have enough layers of beeswax built up, it should last a while.
The old rule for oil finish (on floors, at least) was:
Once a day for a week
Once a week for a month
Once a month for a year
Then when and if needed.
 
So by that you mean oil once a day for a week then once a week for a month and then once a month for a year? The wax should protect the oil though shouldn't it? I plan on staining the wood, then oiling it and finally waxing two or three times.
 
You may not need to oil it if you're staining. There are waxes that are more paste-like and penetrate well.
 
Ah, I'm just oiling it to add a bit of colour to the finish and waxing to give it a sheen and to protect the finish.
 
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