your wood finish preferences

[mopinko]

ok, just posted about the woodwork stuff i am doing. also getting some new windows. so, i am pondering the coating for this stuff. i just did my new front door with marine spar polyurethane. i have to say that the paint brush that i destroyed during that process has been quite resistant to cleaning, even with the stripper that i am using. so, yes, that is the good stuff.
but i have recently used a tung oil finish for the first time, and just find it very satisfying to apply. i used it on a beat up piece of furniture, and it looked like new.

so, tell me what you would use for interior trim, and wood windows. include any good advice you might have.

[Warpy]

1. I've discovered water soluble varnishes

and now use them on most furniture and woodwork.

I used oil based "bowling alley varnish" on the rug loom, half a dozen coats on the treadles. They're barely showing wear, 18 years later.

I used tung oil on my spinning wheel. It was an experiment because a can of it came with the wheel. If I had it to do over again, I'd use varnish.
Oil is nice on old pieces of furniture, though.

I've only varnished windows once and would not do it again. Painting seems to work much better at preventing them from swelling in wet weather and sticking.

[Kolesar]

2. Work a teaspoon of paint thinner into your brush before varnishing or painting

It will be easier to clean because you won't have that dried out paint in the heel of the brush. For latex paint, I do use a bit of water.

If I stained and varnished, I would use water based polyurethane varnish such as Minwax' product. I use the (bowling alley varnish--good name Warpy) for floors.

I build some bookshelves and put Tung oil on them 20 years ago. I moved the shelves four times since then and they still look great.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

3. I just tried and combo shellac and varnish to match an old quartersawn...

.....oak buffet server to a table and mirror I built and I really liked the result. (suggested by our friends at Thybony)

The shellac gave the piece a nice aged honey hue. I love the look of the varnish ... up until now, I did everything in poly - yuk.

[mopinko]

4. thybony is the best

absolutely the best. worth every dime.