What type of finish?

I will hopefully complete my first atm telescope (8" String scope) this coming weekend and I'm starting to learn about finishes and have gotten very confused.

I was thinking of a hand-rubbed finish because I've heard that this gives the best look, however I'm I don't know what type to hand-rub. My concern is that oils don't have good water resistance and dew might cause spots to form. Polyurethane gives the moisture protection but doesn't look as good.

So what types of finish do people use on their telescopes?

-- Craig

Polyurethane. Without good moisture resistance, that "good looking" finish won't look good for long. And a well-applied polyurethane finish looks quite good.

IMHO of course.

Doug Scobel

If you use semi gloss polyurethane instead of gloss it will give you more of that hand rubbed look. Most of the big dob makers use poly, Obsession and Starmaster come to mind.

I had been thinking of a hand-rubbed finish because that's what Michelle Stone decribes for here scopes (http://plettstone.com) and I've always liked the look. But perhaps they don't hold up well in the moisture.

I've only used Polyurethane once before on a dob mount and it doesn't look all that great. It also still feels tacky likes it's not fully hardened (and this is after 5 months).

I know I need to do something but I'm afraid to ruin my beautiful scope with a bad finish job.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

-- Craig

Craig,
If you want a hand rubbed finish do this:
Mix together 1/3 varnish (be it exterior urethane, spar varnish, or similar), 1/3 BOILED linseed oil ( the unboiled doesn't dry), and 1/3 turpentine (the real stuff).
Generously apply (with a rag, brush, etc.), let soak in until it starts to get tacky (about 15 minutes), wipe off excess. Do this several more times while increasing the proportion of varnish to other ingredients so that the last coat is with the varnish at 1/2 and the others 1/4 each. The more coats you put on after this point the glossier the finsh. Use the gloss version of the varnish for your mixture as it has a greater proportion of solids and it will still produce a satin finish if that's what you want. I've done this hundreds of times and it produces a penetrating finish that is quick drying (no dust to worry about), easy to apply, and the final sheen is easy to control. Dispose of oily rags properly so that they don't spontaneously combust.
Good luck,
dan kowall

Thanks for all the great replies! I've learned alot from this thread and have some ideas now on what I've been doing wrong.

I'll post the results when I'm done.