Very good advice Peter....I use a rubbed oil finish quite a bit made of one part gloss oil varnish, one part boiled linseed oil, and a few drops of thinner(mineral spirits). I mix up a tablespoon or so at a time in a clean tin can. Start out on the thin side and really wet the wood, let it soak up all it can and rub down. leave the can out and the solvent will slowly evaporate, come back the next day for coat #2, third day for coat #3, etc. until you are rubbing in a very thin tip coat of the now thickened finish. Rub it in hard and thin with the palm of your hand. dont worry if it is a little rough or gummy in places. Let it dry very well, several days, unti it loses all tackyness. Then rub down with very fine steel wool. wax the H*** out of it. the smoother the wood the better it works, this will get you a high gloss finish that wears well and ages gracefully, unlike many synthetic finishes. The trick is to find an old can of the hot mix oil base gloss varnish. EPA regs forced all the varnish MFGs to go to a closed cold mix system and it ruined all the old brands of varnish.
