[Arximedus]

Don’t know if this helps but over the years I’ve used a verity of poly urethanes and waxes for floor finishes. I’ve noticed that gloss seems to be a little more tacky than satin finish, not sure why. I haven’t really noticed a difference from brand to brand, and I’ve tried both the water based and oil based poly type urethanes. The oil ones seem to hold up a little better but are worse for the environment and harder to clean up. I also think they might be a little tackier. It seems like the prefinished floors that have become popular over the last 5-10 years have a very smooth finish, good for iai sometimes slippery for kendo. I’ve never used an oil to finish a floor but have practice on one, it was very nice and probably my favorite type of finish. Just not sure how you would go about keeping the floor from splintering in the wood, but most of the floors I have experience with are oak, maple, or ash, and I’m sure there are a lot of different type dojo floors than that. The urethane floors are sticky as anything when first put down as Neil pointed out, and become just about perfect when they’re in need of refinishing. I guess you could try to put down a satin poly then lightly screen it with a fine grit. Other than that I don’t know of any scale that lists how tacky it will be once put down, but if you want smooth vs tacky I think the natural oils instead of the polys might be better but that’s just an assumption. Also some of the varnishes have a horrendous smell that stays around from a long time, sometime months, poly does too to some extent, so VOC’s are something to consider as well.