Best Finish for Birch Wood

What is the best finish for Birch wood? Find it out on this page, a great woodworking resource showing tests for many different finishes.

A set of 12 veneer sheets (from “A” to “M”) were employed; these start from very similar PZC values. All samples were sanded to 240-grit.

A special thanks goes to company Veleca for supporting us with finish samples.

We tested these finishes:
Sample A: Veleca Palkerol (water based anionic polyurethane – floor finish)
Sample B: Veleca Pinteco (acrylic emulsion – outdoor finish)
Sample C: Veleca Mobil H (water based acrylic – furniture finish)
Sample D: Veleca Nitrolux (thinner based ketone resin – classic furniture finish)
Sample E: Veleca Tampoval (blonde dewaxed shellac – antique furniture finish)
Sample F: Veleca Olio per Teak (Tung oil based – exotic wood finish)
Sample G: Boiled Linseed Oil (BLO)
Sample H: Furniture restoring oil
Sample I: Nitrocellulose spray lacquer (NCL)
Sample J: Acrylic spray lacquer
Sample K: Blonde Dewaxed Shellac “Medium” (2 parts in 13 parts of Alcohol)
Sample L: Transparent epoxy resin
Sample N: Rubio Monocoat

It was concluded that:
1) chatoyance is definitely affected by the type of coat
2) the best results are achieved with Nitrocellulose Spray Lacquer
2) Nitrolux, Tampoval, Teak Oil, Shellac or Epoxy also provide good results
3) Some of these “clear” finishes significantly darken the surface

Tables below summarize the results in terms of chatoyance (PZC):