Sorry to all for the busted links. I hate that when it happens.
If I were looking for a pine board look, one that I wanted for the appearance of pine, I would make sure as I said before and as others have posted as well that the wood was as stable as I could get it.
Then I would go over the top with a product like this, based on the "regular" pricing, not the commercial grade stuff:
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Steebar is particular product I have heard of being used successfully, but I have not installed it myself.
I have seen other epoxy type finishes installed at bars and high traffic areas in restaurants. They are not anything more than about
3/32" to 1/8" of a coat of resin (although some are made to leave a
1/4" thick coating) covering the wood below. This is what you see when you go to a restaurant and see baseball cards, concert tickets, coins, etc, memorialized in plastic.
These plastic/resin coating are pretty much impervious to all cleaners, stains, and even pretty abrasion resistant. Normal scratching and abrasion can be polished out with something like the Novus line of plastic polishes.
I have seen Behlen's Rock Hard Table Top finish installed, and the folks that have used it, love it. It is supposed to be a bear to put on unless you thin it and follow all instructions carefully, but the end results don't look quite as plastic as the epoxies.
Google: "epoxy table top" and you will get a lot of info and opinions. Also, if you DAGS the Behlen's finish there are a lot of posts concerning its application procedures.
Robert