Seeking Woodworking Advice

[Tony Strawhun]

I recently purchased a fantastic wooden table from a local furniture shop to become my new kitchen table. Now that it is set up in my kitchen and i have had a chance to use it, i have noticed a few things...namely that the wooden top is "softer" than I expected it to be. The daily activities of dishes, food prep, and sorting of mail has started to leave small scratches in the finish...nothing deep enough to get to bare wood, just surface markings and indentations.

What I would like to do is get a sheet of glass/acrylic/plexiglass/Lexan to cover the wood surface to protect it from the wear and tear, but I am afraid that if I use a plastic, the chemicals in the plastic will harm the finish on the table and if I use glass, that the moisture from kitchen activities will get trapped and ruin the finish (not to mention sharp edges and shatter potential from the glass).

I wish I knew what type of wood the table was made out of, or what kind of finish (lacquer, poly, etc.) was on the table, but I do not.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

[Chris Weiss]

for glass, you'd need to use tempered glass, sharp edges and and shattering will not a big issue, it's much hard to break anyway.  it will have to be custom ordered though, but likely not as expensive as you might think.  you can use a good oil based finish and moisture won't be a problem.

you could probably just refinish with an oil based finish and that would be enough.  there are a few water based ones too, but they are more expensive.  I used one on my floors and it's held up very well, I don't know the implications of using a floor finish on a table though.

[Andrew Ricke]

Well I just made my own dining table posted in the Facebook page so I have some common concerns. 

I generally find those dents and dings add a patina to the table and makes it unique.  You can always recoat with a Danish oil and then a poly coat on top to cover up any bad scratches.  Color matching would be the hard part if you don't know the original stain. 

If the table is truely dry and cured then the plastic or glass top should not be a problem (~2 months from last finishing coat). Safety glass will not be a shatter concern or have edges of you get it custom cut from a good place.  Plastic will likely yellow or fog eventually from the sunlight. 

Lacquer leaves a real "liquid plastic" look/ feel.  Usually super shinny/glossy. 

Poly is also what's called a "surface coat" but it's much thinner/transparent and smoother to the touch so it doesn't mess up the wood look.  It's much tougher to scratch than lacquer - the more glossy the tougher.  

You may just have an oil coat like Danish, Waterlox, or Tung oil.  It dries inside the surface instead of on top so it leaves wood the most exposed to scratching.  Generally very flat on the glossy scale. 

Hope that helps!  You can also try the /r/woodworking on reddit. They are smart at guessing wood and finish from a photo. 

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[Tony Strawhun]

Thank you both for the insight...I was not the one to apply the current finish, and it is currently in great shape (so I do not want to refinish the table). I'm looking to protect what is there.
This is actually a warranty replacement. The damaged table had something set on it that ate the finish (wasn't heat damage, it was chemical or water damage)

[George Fetters]

There is a table top finishing product that puts the equivalent of 50 coats on in one pass. It is used a lot for bar counters and tables.  You have to build a border about 1/4 inch around the table and pour the stuff on. It's self leveling and leaves a clear or smoky finish depending on your choice.  At the hardware store it's $50 at Michaels it's $30.  Michaels has a 50% off one item coupon every other week in the paper and online.

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[Derek Sigler]

George is right.  I like Envirotex Lite.  You can buy it anywhere.  I would avoid Satan's Pantry, but here's the link,

http://www.walmart.com/ip/30407508?wmlspartner=wlpa&adid=22222222227020619080&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=52410722831&wl4=&wl5=pla&wl6=83974614671&veh=sem

[Andrew Ricke]

The woodworker in me cringes, but yeah it'll do the trick. 

You can also just spot repair with poly or Danish oil the scratches without having to do the whole surface. 

On Tuesday, August 25, 2015, 'Derek Sigler' via Arch Reactor <arch-r...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

George is right.  I like Envirotex Lite.  You can buy it anywhere.  I would avoid Satan's Pantry, but here's the link,

http://www.walmart.com/ip/30407508?wmlspartner=wlpa&adid=22222222227020619080&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=52410722831&wl4=&wl5=pla&wl6=83974614671&veh=sem

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