Wax or polish?

My understanding, from the last time I finished a piece, is that you
end the finishing by putting wax or polish over the topcoat. That was
30 years ago and it seems today, paint stores and hardware stores have
never heard of this, shall we say, post finish. (BTW, the empire
dresser I finished 30 years ago still looks beautiful.)

I've got about a dozen pieces lined up for the treatment. In general,
I want to sandpaper, stain, topcoat, and then wax or polish. To avoid
incompatibility, I'll use Minwax products. That means Wood Finish for
the stain, polyurethane for the topcoat, and wax for the postfinish.
Sandpaper/steel wool when appropriate

Chris Bacon...

I'm guessing that you're both posting from r.w. What benefit
does polyeurghethane have over (say) shellac for a lasting
finish? What are DtK's "pieces"? "Pieces" often benefit from
"wax treatment", but I guess that's not what you had in mind.

Dan-the-K...

It's not? Please explain "wax treatment."

I wouldn't say I'm posting from rec.woodworking. I'm cross-posting to
these two groups. I haven't spent much time with either one. I
generally hang out with comp.sys.ibm.ps2.hardware. My initial

Andy Dingley...

OK, so at least you're on topic for rec.antiques....

(There's a MCA Apricot VX under my desk as we speak)

impression is that although this thread fits better into r.w.,
rec.antiques tends to be more serious.
As to what I mean by "piece," its furniture, not necessarily antique.
This all started with noticing that the 3' x 8' conference table on
which I assemble/disassemble/modify computers has some badly dried out
spots. It's probably 50-100 years old and refinishing it should be
rewarding. I started noticing other pieces of furniture I could
finish. For example, I always hated the light color of the unfinished
IKEA furniture my ex-wife had bought. So that furniture is awaiting
staining.

The advantage I see in polyurethane is compatibility among Minwax
products. If I stick to the party line, everything should work
together well. The fishtank stand I'm working on (currently sanding it
with 180 paper) will take Wood conditioner (it's soft wood), stain,
polyurethane and wax. I do want to move on to shellac when
appropriate. There are reasons I don't want to use lacquer, tung oil,
or several other finishes.

Henry St.Pierre...

Your ex-wife left you furniture? Lucky guy (even though it's IKEA). She
must have liked you :).

Does this sound right?

Larry Blanchard...

First of all, I'd use wood that was the color I wanted and put a clear
finish on it. But if I had to change the color, say to match an
existing piece, I'd use dye instead of stain.

stoutman...

Huh? Isn't a dye a type of stain? Did you mean to say "dye instead of
pigment"?

I did use poly once for the top of an aquarium stand, but usually I use
shellac or just a clear oil finish plus wax. Spar varnish for outdoor
pieces.

Any recommendations on the polish or wax? I think of polish as being

Andy Dingley...

Don't use polyurethane.

If you do use poly, don't waste effort waxing it.

For wax use a hard finishing wax, such as Liberon's Black Bison, rather
than a soft polishing wax.

something like Pledge, which is pretty useless. Are there any polishes
that actually do protect? What about wax? Are the Butcher Block and
Minwax waxes good? Any suggestions?