Finishing a piece of driftwood?

[Duane N]

I'm looking for opinions on how to go about finishing this piece of driftwood I found about 6 months ago and it has been sitting in my home since then.  My plan for this piece is to commission a local wood carver to carve 2 Bald Eagle figures and have them placed on the piece of driftwood (one at the top of the driftwood and one towards the bottom) and build a nest to imitate a pair of nesting Bald Eagles.  Once it's complete I plan on putting it on display at local wildlife/craft shows in my area I attend...mainly it will be used as an educational piece about Bald Eagles.

I have no idea what type of wood this is but I do have an area on the underside I can run some tests on.  I also plan on mounting it on a sturdy base...probably a natural edge slab of wood (not sure what type until I decide on how to finish the driftwood). 

It measures about 28" tall, 28" wide and 12" deep.

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And just an underside view of the partial stump.

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And a crude Photoshop job on how I "see" the eagles on it.

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[Rob Young]

If you have access to spray equipment, I'd spray.  As a one-off, the rattle cans would probably work.  And I'd pick either shellac or "real" lacquer so you don't have to fuss as much with the between coats.  They will burn-into each other.  Probably need to rub down a bit with some steel wool or non-woven abrasive tough.

Another possibility would be flooding it with an oil-varnish.  Tricky to get even coverage in all the irregular surfaces as well as pad them dry (take outside and blast with compressed air, but watch out for the mess and hazards THAT will create).  Perhaps a dunk tank of sorts?

Ultimately, what sort of "look" do you want for the base?  Sort of natural, shiny and plastic, in between?  Need to shift the color?

[Duane N]

I'm looking for a natural look for this piece and I don't really want it to look "finished" if that makes sense.  Some parts of the driftwood is brittle and I'm just concerned about pieces falling off as it's moved around.  No access to a sprayer unfortunately.

[MikeBob]

If you want a natural look of drift wood why do anything?

[Duane N]

Like I stated above your post I'm concerned about the driftwood deteriorating more as it ages.  The wood seems pretty solid/dense but some parts of it are brittle and I'm looking for a good way to preserve it for the future.  The carvings aren't going to be cheap especially if they're a one of a kind carving so I don't want the driftwood wasting away.

Maybe I'll just dunk the entire piece in linseed oil and call it good.

[gboot]

Talk to a taxidermist, they are frequently mounting on driftwood. I'm thinking that dunking in an oil based finish would substantially alter the look.

[tomsteve]

linseed oil will darken it quite a bit and could take a very long time to fully dry/cure. if this piece,which reads like its going to be very nice, is going to be inside I don't see how it could deteriorate any more with no finish on it.
it reads like this is going to be handled often moving it. in that case, there will probably be small pieces that come off,with a finish or without.

personally id leave it as is with no finish.

[Duane N]

linseed oil will darken it quite a bit and could take a very long time to fully dry/cure. if this piece,which reads like its going to be very nice, is going to be inside I don't see how it could deteriorate any more with no finish on it.
it reads like this is going to be handled often moving it. in that case, there will probably be small pieces that come off,with a finish or without.

personally id leave it as is with no finish.

After talking with a local woodcarver he said if it's going to be kept inside he would not seal it with anything...so I'm going to leave it as is.