Furniture, Wood and Cabinetry Finishing - Blonde Birch Doors - How To

I'm going to be replacing a few old, damaged bedroom doors inside my home with some new Flat-Panel Birch doors. I want to resemble the original appearance, which is a light, semi-transparent, blonde color. What materials and processes would you recommend? Thanks!!!

The original doors may have been stained then finished or just finished and aged. One approach might be to take one of the old doors to your local paint store and see if the folks there can help you figure out what color combination this might be. Seeing this in person would make all the difference. Are the original doors this flat panel birch door, too?

Chris:

Thanks for the reply. There are birch doors installed presently, but the original finish was painted over some time ago :( .

I have been in contact with a gentleman that makes/mixes a oil based varnish which is intended to replicate the Wheat colored finish on Heywood Wakefield furniture. He insists 3-4 coats of his product is all that is necessary for protection. What exactly is a Varnish, and how does it compare to a Poly?

Thanks.

Polyurethane is a type of varnish. It is a more modern version of the product that has been in use for decades. Sometimes it takes many coats of a lightly tinted product to produce the depth of color needed. Ordinarily, polyurethane would perform well with only three coats. Polyurethane is applied in thin coats\, so better protection comes from many thin coats.

Hope this helps.