Finishing Veneer with oil and ?

[Jim McPherson]

I'm in the process of building a pair of Exodus Audio Kit 2641's. I'm using 1/42'' raw rosewood veneer. I've read many places that I need 3-4 coats of teak oil to finish wood. However, I believe that every where I've read is assuming that I have solid wood and not thin veneer. I've put 1 coat of teak oil on the speakers and it looks and feels great. Is there any need to put 3-4 coats on?

In addition, since they look so nice I'd like to the speakers to be fairly bullet proof. Will the teak oil be hard enough, or should I follow up with a coat of Daft clear Laquer or Polyurethane?

Here is a pic before putting the teak oil on.

[Bas Horneman]

I've read that amongst craftsman it is said : "Friends don't let friends use Polyurethane"

I would say KIS. Keep it simple if one layer gives you the look and feel stick with it. Maybe try experiment on a seperate piece of veneer to see what an additional layer would do.

[Bas Horneman]

By the way that veneer of yours looks b e a utiful.

The big drawback is that any of the "natural" finishes is not bulletproof and a cup of coffee on top of your speakers will ruin it.