Finish?

[TimD]

Maybe you guys can give me some advice on this. I'm turning a set of chess pieces and then plan to make the board on a table with storage in a drawer for the pieces. Here's the white king & queen made out of black locust wood and only finished to 1500 grit paper. Still got to trim the ends off, weight the bottoms, etc. What is the opinion for a finsish on these? The black pieces will be black walnut or shedua. The king is 4-7/8" high. Should I go with polyurethane varnish, oil finish, or a good coat of wax? Sorry for the 90 degree rotation here but the only way I could get it in due to the size restriction here.

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

Tim

I am not an expert when it comes to turned pieces because I am just starting out. But my 2 cents worth would be to treat it as if it were a pen with heavy handeling. I do not know how you finish your pens but my suggestion would be a coat of clear shellac to seal the wood and then top coat with a couple coats of lacquer. Hope others will weigh in here.

[Servcman]

I've used a good 3-4 coats of hut wax on my pens which i use at work around machinery and fabrication and so far they seem to hold the finish well. The person I talk with directly at Berea Hardwoods when I go there to buy pen kits and blanks also suggests a spray shellac finish over the hut wax I've never tried this so I can't tell you how it works.
Dennis