Every Vellara timber base is finished by hand with a plant based hardwax oil, not a surface lacquer. It is a quieter and more honest way to finish wood, and it is worth understanding what it does to the piece you commission, and why the same oil can look different from one timber to the next.
What an oil finish actually does
A traditional varnish or polyurethane sits on top of the wood as a thin plastic film. It seals the timber under a layer of its own. A hardwax oil does the opposite. It is drawn into the top fibres of the wood and bonds there, colouring and protecting the timber from within rather than coating over it.
We finish with Rubio Monocoat Oil Plus 2C, a two component, plant based oil built on a linseed oil base with zero VOCs. In a single application it delivers both colour and protection, bonding molecularly to the surface fibres within minutes. There is no film to chip, no plastic sheen, and no build up of multiple coats.
The effect it gives
The result is a surface that still looks and feels like wood. The grain is enhanced rather than buried, the sheen is a soft natural matte, and the timber stays warm and tactile under the hand. Because the oil bonds into the fibres instead of forming a skin, the finish is genuinely hard wearing, resisting water, heat and daily use, and it can be repaired in place. A scuff or a tired patch can be re oiled by hand in the original colour, without sanding the whole piece back and refinishing it. A film finish rarely allows that.
Why the same colour looks different on different timber
This is the part worth reading twice. An oil finish does not paint over the wood, it works with it. So the colour you end up with is always a conversation between the oil and the timber underneath it.
Three things in the wood shape the final colour:
- The wood's own colour. Every timber carries its own natural pigment. Pale, even toned White Oak reads close to the swatch. Kiaat, which is a rich red brown to begin with, warms and deepens almost any colour laid over it, the pale and white tones most of all.
- Tannins and natural extractives. These sit inside the wood like a tinted primer and can shift the oil's hue. White Oak is notably tannin rich, which is part of why it takes colour so beautifully.
- Density and grain. Open, porous timbers draw in more oil and read deeper, while denser, tighter grained woods hold less. The grain pattern itself shows through every colour, so two boards of different figure will never look quite identical.
In practice this means a colour such as Smoke or Natural on White Oak will not be the same colour on Kiaat, and a swatch sampled on oak is a guide to the colour rather than a literal promise of the result on another timber.
How we handle it at Vellara
We treat the swatch as a starting point, not the finished article. Before we commit your piece, we sample your chosen oil on the actual timber we will build with, so you can see the true colour on your wood and your grain. The wood always has the final say, and we would rather you fall for the real thing than a photograph of it.
Ready to choose a timber and a finish? Start your commission and tell us what you have in mind, and we will guide you through stone, timber, finish and form.