how to seal and keep natural color/look of wood

if your using an oil it will make it darker.. on new wood it will give it a yellow tinge. if you dont wany any discolorartion you need to use a water based product

i tried using Varathane water based satin poly... it made it darker and stayed dark after it dried. any other product suggestions?

I have to tell you Josh, that this is without question the best example of how what people like is completely a matter of personal taste. In looking at the cut edges this looks like an aged pressure treated wood 2 x. If its a coffee table why do anything to it? Maybe put a piece of glass over it and have the glass enter a trim piece with a plough cut in it?

jagans said:

I have to tell you Josh, that this is without question the best example of how what people like is completely a matter of personal taste. In looking at the cut edges this looks like an aged pressure treated wood 2 x. If its a coffee table why do anything to it? Maybe put a piece of glass over it and have the glass enter a trim piece with a plough cut in it?

Click to expand...

yeh what people like is definitely a matter of personal taste.

i really don't like that the un-weathered wood is visible on the cut ends but i had no choice. i needed it cut down to the right length. i tried all sorts of methods of quick wood weathering like steel wool in vinegar and eco wood treatment but i couldnt get it to match the original weathered look. you should have seen the original ends, they looked beautiful but i had no choice.

so for me, id rather have the un-aged ends showing than loose the 30 years of natural weathering on the top.

glass top is a good idea but, my personal preference is to have the natural wood surface. =]

Banding the edges like Epson suggests looks like a good idea.
If you really liked the way the original edges look, you could also consider miter cutting the original edges off and attaching them to the sections you are using, which would also have to be miter cut.

[attempt to show using the keyboard characters]
Original edge -> |\ \__ <-- section w newly cut edge (top of board not shown).
You could dowel & glue, or even better, bisquit & glue.

You could also butt joint the old edges on using a 1x6 backer on the bottom.