Laminate stock finishing

[Aggie04]

I'm in the process of finishing up my first laminate stock. I have a brown/brown laminate that I plan on staining (don't like the light wood color so much). I've seen some talk about sealing the wood. I've decided to go with Tru-Oil to finish the stock but my question is do I have to seal the wood before I start applying Tru-Oil or will the Tru-Oil seal to stock.

Thanks!

[03mossy]

technically laminates are already sealed with the glue that is used to hold the layers of wood together. But tru-oil is also a sealer. I finished a laminate a few years ago with tru-oil and I like the way it turned out. They only thing I will do different on the next one is take more time. I thought I had the stock sanded down pretty good but that oil shows any tiny little flaw or saw mark. Also take your time and apply many very thin coats. I rushed this part also and did 4 thicker coats.

[Aggie04]

Thanks for the reply! I've had this stock for 2 years now so that is taking my time! I'm down to the 220 grit right now and will whisker it tonight and then go to a 300 grit. I'm going to get some 400 grit for the the sand and fill part of the Tru-Oil application.

[ellobo]

Aggie, your doing it right. The edges of the wood are not sealed by the glue. water stain and wisker over and over until you have it glass smooth. Thins coats and finish sand with oil on the sanding media, wipe of excess, smooth and let oil dry between coats. Final coats just rub in oil and let dry.

El Lobo

[jpdown]

I've done trial and error with Tru-Oil on a number of stocks. I've found what they call a "dirty" sand technique give the best results. After you wisker the stock and it has dried, mixed 1/2 Tru-Oil with 1/2 mineral spirits and generously hand rub in the first coat leaving the wiskers standing and let dry completely. Come back and wrap 400 grit sand paper around a flat rubber eraser and use the same 1/2 TO/MS mixture to sand/rub in finish in small areas at a time. This works the Tru-oil/wood particles into the wood filling the pours. Wipe off excess with cotton cloth. Let dry completely and repeat the process as many times as necessary using progressively finer grit sand paper until all the stock pours/blemishes that will appear are filled and become smooth as silk. Once the pours are filled and the blemishes are gone, you can rub on straight Tru-Oil, let dry, and dull finish with 0000 steel wool between coats. Repeat process until you build up the finish to the final satin gloss you desire. The result is a satin smooth finish that is easy to repair with a little Tru-Oil if scratched or damaged.