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OK, I guess I'm the "boat guy" in the crowd. I've been watching this post and have refrained from getting involved up until now. Let's get something straight. This is not a "boat" question because it's an indoor project, yes?
The scoop on finishing teak on the exterior of a boat is quite simple. There are three things you can do:
1) You can leave it and let it weather to a nice silver grey. This isn't really pretty but then that's not why teak was chosen for the job traditionally.
2) If you want pretty you can apply any of a number of oils, varnishes, polyurethanes etc. ...............and re-finish them every couple of years.
3) You can split the difference and use a product like Cetol (if there are any other products like Cetol) which although not as pretty as varnish, will last many years with minimal maintenance.

The best results I've had with "pretty finish" on teak has been S1 epoxy sealer to penetrate and seal into the surface followed by Spar Varnish. I have little faith in the "teak oils".

Paul M

I believe the 'boat' connection was merely due to the wood species which is commonly used by boat 'builders'.

The intended use of a glass overlay and the rounded edges greatly increased the concerns re finishing.

I think the thing to do here is to make absolutely sure the 'finish' has cured completely before setting glass on it.

The glass edge is a difficult situation that only you AND the owner can come to a common agreement.

Maybe Cetol is acceptable under indoor conditions if she understands it is not 'permanent'. The glass will protect it from liquid damage from above. I doubt the cetol finish would stain like 'normal' furniture finishes. Being indoors, the glaring sun will not expose the lack of 'shiney'.

P.S. The glass will make it look shiney!

jimsjinx wrote:Ok, I have a client that hired me to refinish a simple rectangle solid teak table. She requested teak oil for a finish. I stripped and sanded down to good color, and applied Watco teak oil 4 times, as directed on the lable. I waited 72 hrs. for it to dry completely. She wanted a piece of glass to put on top, but the edges are radiused, to the glass would either hang over, or be shorter than the highest point of that radius. Cutting off the radii, and squaring the edges, is not an option. So, my question is, can I safely apply pre-cat lacquer, or a quality polyurethane over the teak oil? Seems boat guys do it all the time, but I wasn't sure about a breakfast table. Any takers? Thanks, Y'all. jimsjinx

Help me understand how is a pre-cat lacquer going to solve the glass and table radius problem?

On a radius table where the radius can not be removed the best solution is to use beveled glass where the bevel ends exactly where the radius on the table top begins. Yes that would make the radius portion of the table stand proud of the glass but with this method the glass is fully supported and there is no sharp edge to catch or cut anything. However even a slightest shift in the glass will make an edge of thin glass stand proud.

I have even seen table where the top of the table surface was slightly undercut, beginning at the where the radius on the top surface ends. This then created a indentation for the glass to sit down in. Then with the glass set in the edge of the table looked like edge banding.

Another option would be to cut an inlay groove around into the table top at the beginning of the radius and insertings an inlay banding that would serve the purpose of locating the glass, protecting the edge of the glass and provide for you a surface that you could continue the radius up sightly to make it look like the glass was fitted to an edge radiused table top.

One other option would be to have the glass end at where the radius begins on the top and then using ultra clear epoxy build up the exposed edge of the table. Before you do this make sure you have the glass ultra clean because once the epoxy dries the glass will for all intents and purposes will be adhered to the table top. I would build a shellac dam to insure the epoxy did not by surface tension draw under the glass. Or apply the first coat of epoxy with very small paint brush and make sure it full cured and sealed the edge before you try the build up. After i posted I remembered I once did this and used a very very very thin bead of silicon to form the dam. It is delicate and must be constant or the silicon will be visible under the glass.

As for using lacquer over teak, yes it can be done. There are combinations for lacqueing over raw teak, oiled teak and finished teak but I would seek the advice of the manufacture of the teak oil and or lacquer to find out which is most compatible for your use.

I ended up letting the Watco teak oil set up for about a week. Then I sealed it with a vinyl lacquer sealer. Then 3 coats of precatilyzed satin lacquer.It came out nice, and I have no pictures. The customer loved it, and I'll be doing her 4 matching chairs after a bit. I feel confident with adhesion, as I tried a sample on a piece of wood, and you could'nt scrape it off after 3 days. It also passed my "sweet tea test". You place an iced glass of sweet tea on the surface, and leave it overnight. No ring! This was actually unintensional! jimsjinx