RE: Any ideas on a super durable finish that will take a beating?

I’ve done several tables using poly finishes and they hold up just fine. More so it you remember NOTHING is bullet proof and everything, eventually, requires maintenance coats.

The trick is, just as with floors, don’t wait until you break through the finish into the wood to freshen the coat. That way, you only have to scuff it and apply a new coat.

This is one I did for a farmer. It was beat, after years of neglect. This finish is, now, about seven years in and suffered use by the farmer, his two boys, a ranch hand and many a visitor.

By the way, rather than spray for a mirror finish, I brushed and wiped on about seven coats. Then I used a pad sander, some 600 and oil to bring it to smooth with no brush marks, then wiped on a couple more coats.

For some coffee tables, I brushed on coats, then used the sander and oil with pumice, rottenstone, then went to polish mode with plastic polish.