kitchen table made of pine

lizz

I hope someone can give me some advice.My husband finally got around to building my kitchen table out of 2x12 pine boards,only thing is he put polyurethane on a test board and we dont like it.We would like to add a little color mabey and really bring the wood grain and knots out.Any suggestions?Shellack,Varnish,???

Mike Swearingen

Try a red mahogany stain wiped away fairly quickly for a "cherry" wood look that will enhance the grain and knots.
We've done that on some of our pine woodwork, and it looks good with our real cherry furniture.
You could go with a brown oak stain the same way for a different color effect.
Good Luck!
Mike

KenTheHandyMan

If you like a 'rustic' look, use Minwax "Early American". You can leave it on a bit to let it darken, then wipe off. If you want darker, just do it again a few hours later.

To finish furniture, I usually recommend a spraying lacquer. However, since you probably don't have an HVLP rig, you might have to brush something on. Lacquer can tend to give you those nice 'white rings' when people put wet or condensating glasses on it. I think there is a nice lacquer out there now that resists that, not sure of the brand though. Your local Sherwin Willams would know, or other paint supply store.

Shellac would work well too. Here again, your best looking finish will be sprayed on. You can brush on the Poly. Try to stain a test piece, then brush the Poly on and see if you still don't like it. I personally do not like Poly at all. It gives you a thick protective coat, but really it is like multiple 'skins'. For example, if you do 3 coats of Poly, you'll actually be able to peel 3 layers of Poly off when it's dry. Lacquer, on the other hand, dissolves the previous layer. So 3 coats of lacquer actually yields on very thick coat.

Lots of options, I know. And you're probably more confused now than when I started. I guess what we need to determine for sure is, do you have a spraying rig (HVLP preferred) or are you gonna have to brush it on?

__________________
Regards,

Ken Walker

J187

I don't know about how quickly we wiped it, but we just finished a nice red mahogany on our pine business counter. That and some liquid bar top over and it really did bring out the grain. Looks gorgeous, especially under Phillips Natural Lighting light bulbs. The bulbs bring out the amber glow of the wood. Looks great!

lizz

Thanks to everyone who replied to finishing my pine top table!You gave me some good options.

CVH

Hi,

In the same line...I'm trying to stain a table I've already stripped and sanded, however, I do not have a sprayer. I'm working with MiniWax's 2-1 Stain & Poly. I tried to brush on a coat and it looked appalling so I stripped it off. It went on too thick and when I tried to brush it out (and into the wood) it dried streaky and with pockmarks.

I imagine there are better products out there but is there anything I can do or buy cheaply to make this work? I need my table back to I can eat and work. The more affordable the recommendation the better, I'm on a shoestring-student budget.

Thanks!

47_47

Pine does not accept a uniform stain. Sand away the old finish, then apply a wood stain pre-conditioner per instructions, then re-stain. You may have more responses by starting a new thread in the painting section.

__________________
What we've got here is... failure to communicate. Some men you just can't reach. So you get what we had here last week, which is the way he wants it... well, he gets it.

CVH

Thanks, I think I found my answer on the linked woodworking forum. Didn't realize it was there yesterday!

Ron6519

If you decide to stain the pine, you will need to use a conditioner prior to the color stain or the wood will be splotchy. The pine absorbs the stain at different rates in different places on the board. With the conditioner in place first, the stain is absorbed uniformly. Every interior stain manufacturer will have this product in their line.
Ron