Colourless protection for Iroko?

[labougie]

I'm making some thwarts for my 12ft dinghy out of iroko. I've tried tung oil and Le Tonkinois on test patches and they have both coloured the wood to a brown which I don't like. Is there a clear, completely colourless matt finish product I can use to keep as close as I can to the real colour? Thanks

 

[Lakesailor]

You won't find any coating that does not deepen the colour
I made rudder blades from Iroko and the epoxy resin coloured it. Varnish on top did not deepen it any more.
To be fair, if you wet it with water it takes on the darker tones.
It's a properrty of Iroko. I have just epoxied some hardwood ply and it hardly darkened the wood at all.


Blade untreated

Similar blade in same wood, epoxy coated

 

[Tranona]

Don't think you will find any coating that will not darken the wood. You can leave iroko bare, but it tends to weather grey. If you are after a sheen rather than a gloss, suggest you try International Woodskin which is a lightly tinted porous woodstain that will give a pleasing overall colour and most importantly for the thwarts is very hard wearing as it does not chip or flake like conventional varnish.

 

[PuffTheMagicDragon]

More than any covering I think that it is the UV light that causes Iroko to darken. What starts as a light yellow/tan on freshly cut surface will gradually darken to a deep brown, covered or not.

The only difference that the covering will achieve is a prevention of weathering of the surface to a light grey colour.

 

[rogerthebodger]

More than any covering I think that it is the UV light that causes Iroko to darken. What starts as a light yellow/tan on freshly cut surface will gradually darken to a deep brown, covered or not..

I understand it's the natural oils in Iroko oxidising that causes Iroko to darken. Even the Iroko I used for my internal flooring changer colour from yellow to brown over time. Outside does darken quicker than the internal.

Coating was clear Timbacare from Rysdex available in the UK.