A question for all the BLO guru's

Ahhhh a man after my own heart. Welcome to the family Jim, but dont stop at just teasing the blo boys, for my sake please throw in the ring some other options.

I am looking for an easy non complicated way of finishing some mahogany and maple. BTW all i have used to date is wipe on poly. Would like to try something else appropriate.

Lets hear your 5 cents worth.

Hi Rob
It depends what your putting the finish on. If you like simple how about spraying some lacquer,no spray gun ? It comes in a spray can, it dries quick and can be rubbed out after several coats. Shellac is easy, it comes in different shades and drys quickly too and if you don't like the results you can go over shellac with any other type finish. It too comes in spray cans. Your wipe on poly is another easy one it comes in water(less fumes) and oil base.Some folks like tough oil ,another easy finish ,but it takes several coats and is not as durable as poly but it's easy. If your working on counter tops or something you want a bullet proof finish use a pourable finish .If you want color under your top coat I prefer water or alcohol base dyes.
How's that ?

Vaughn & Jim both are right with shellac 1st for an easy seal. What I like to do with raw mahogany is to apply 3 piss coats of lacquer sealer then sand with 320 and then apply 2 full coats of sealer and sand after that mix 2 part brown mahogany and 1 part hickory and 1/2 dark green. Another good mix is Vandyke brown 1 part 1/2 part brown mahogany. Use behlin stains. If your looking to fill the grain on raw wood apply 2 full coats and then with a damp lacquer rag wipe off in then direction of the grain and then sand with 320 and apply 2 full coats sand and color. For maple to get the 2 tone effect use behlin stain, this a little with denature alcohol. use a warm brown as your 1st stain. That will penetrate the soft wood. Let it dry and then sand lightly to remove the stain from the hard wood. 2nd stain should be a yellow / brown maple mixture. This will not effect the dark stain much and will stain the hard wood. The seal with 3 coats of lacquer before you sand lightly.

Got the skinny on the BlO, varnish, and bee's wax. This is an original old world varnish. Use hot it will grab the wood and penetrate the surface. The wax will harden to a point. After the drying time the finish was rubbed out with either a tuff muslin cloth or fine steel wool. But I would suspect a heavy cloth was interfered. Very long lasting finish.
This is something I will have to give a try for period finishes.