Finish for Baltic Birch

Tabulating

Hello,

I am wondering what folks have used for finish on their birch additions or modifications and if they are happy with the color and sheen match they obtained.

I bought a NORRÅKER birch table from Ikea.  It is glued-up solid Baltic Birch.  I used the original table as template and between my jigsaw and router I made a birch table top replacement top.  The figure is a great match, better than if I had used North American birch.

But, the table is unfinished and hence is little lighter and a little less yellow than the rest of the birch in our 400.  I know many have executed Baltic Birch additions and mods.  Has anyone broken the code on a good match?  I have lots of scraps to experiment with.  

After looking at the finish in the 400, I don't think it is standard polyurethane.  It doesn't have the film that poly usually creates.

Thanks in advance,

Bill

Bayliss

@Tabulating, I'm not sure if it is what you are looking for, but see @Tabaz's post at the end of the following discussion thread::

https://tab-rv.vanillacommunity.com/discussion/comment/161242#Comment_161242

manyman297

I’ve been wondering this as well. The interior cabinet pieces look to be just an oil based poly. It seems too yellow to be a water based poly. I'm at a loss for what they're using to wrap the cabinet sides and faces in. The finish looks water based because it's so light and not yellow but the wood itself...is it really birch? Not sure.

TNOutback

If you have scraps to test on, you might start with Zinsser SealCoat, which is a two-pound cut of shellac. Multiple coats would darken more amber though, and may end up more orange than what you are looking for. Best bet may be a dye stain in a yellowish tint.  Since it will be a tabletop, you might finish with epoxy, like Total Boat Tabletop Epoxy Resin.

manyman297

Avoid using water-based poly on hard wear surfaces like a table. I've never had good luck with it on surfaces that see a lot of hands on them. Something goes wacky with the interaction of the poly and oils from your hands. It starts to break down the poly.

Denny16

Yes, the wood is Baltic Birch furniture grade plywood.  What this means is all the wood layers in the plywood is Birch wood, which no voids or fills, and a water resistant glue is used to bond the layers together.  Look at the end of a ply panel in the TaB, and you will see each layer is the same thickness, and uniform appearance.  Due to the high quality manufacturing process, the cost is higher than standard construction plywood. 

 

This is the same quality plywood also used by many high end furniture manufacturers, due to its uniform construction.  A Marine version of this ply is also made with waterproof glue, which is used in boat building.  Similar quality European plywood’s like Okume are also used in boat building, and these ply panels have a deeper red/brown color, similar to some hardwoods, like Mahogany. 

Birch has its very distinctive light golden blond color and grain pattern.  Most American made plywood is made from Fir, and dimes in several grades including Marine, but can have a specific percentage of fills and voids.  Shop grade ply used in cabinet work, has thick inner layers of Fir, and a thiner finished skin on the outside surfaces, the layers are not all the same thickness.  

Cheers

TNOutback

Another option may be Osmo Poly-X Oil.

manyman297

Denny16 said:

Yes, the wood is Baltic Birch furniture grade plywood.  What this means is all the wood layers in the plywood is Birch wood, which no voids or fills, and a water resistant glue is used to bond the layers together.  Look at the end of a ply panel in the TaB, and you will see each layer is the same thickness, and uniform appearance.  Due to the high quality manufacturing process, the cost is higher than standard construction plywood. 

 

This is the same quality plywood also used by many high end furniture manufacturers, due to its uniform construction.  A Marine version of this ply is also made with waterproof glue, which is used in boat building.  Similar quality European plywood’s like Okume are also used in boat building, and these ply panels have a deeper red/brown color, similar to some hardwoods, like Mahogany. 

Birch has its very distinctive light golden blond color and grain pattern.  Most American made plywood is made from Fir, and dimes in several grades including Marine, but can have a specific percentage of fills and voids.  Shop grade ply used in cabinet work, has thick inner layers of Fir, and a thiner finished skin on the outside surfaces, the layers are not all the same thickness.  

Cheers

Something I've noticed is that not everything is baltic birch...or at least the baltic birch I'm used to seeing. I'm wondering if they're using a "lite ply" that Airstream uses in some areas. For example, the door/seat bottom for the storage under the passenger dinette seat looks to be (and feel) like lite ply. But the cabinet drawer boxes are definitely baltic birch. I'm wondering if they're using the lite ply on larger panels to save on weight? Makes sense I guess.

CrabTab

@Tabulating, I sprayed an oil-based semigloss polyurethane on my wood interior additions. They seem to be a perfect match.

Hope this helps...

Denny16

Manyman, yes some of the case work under the bunks in the 400, and other non visible areas is a different type of Birch-skined plywood, probably used in areas where the nicer, more expensive Baltic Birch wood is not really needed, but still a good solid type of ply panel, similar to standard cabinet type Shop plywood.  I was referring to the main cabinets, TaB400 washroom and closet blukheads.
cheers

Tabulating

Well, I did some experimenting.  It turns out the birch tabletop I bought had a finish on it already.  So I sanded that off.  I tried a few different finishes on scraps, and in the end I chose tung oil.  It looked like a good match for color, but the sheen didn't match perfectly.  As a table top, we liked the fact that tung oil is easily renewable.  So, we were OK with a slight mismatch in sheen.

So, all was well after the first coat.  It couldn't have been looking better.  Then I applied the second coat on a 93 degree day.  The tung oil catalyzed before it soaked in.  It also got REALLY hot.  I think the oil oxidized and darkened the wood as well.  

Anyway, it looks pretty nice, but it is nowhere near the match I wanted.  We will use it like this for now, and maybe someday I will sand it down, or buy another top from IKEA.