I have finished stripping down my front door and now its time to finish it. I believe it is mahagony and I would like to keep the finish natural. I am planning on using the Minwax Helmsman Spar Urethane as a finish coat. My question is do I still need to stain the door, or can I just use the urethane on top of the unfinished wood?
Stain is not necessary. Not even desirable IMO.
Just finish it, check your work by coating the door with paint thinner, that will let you see what it will look like finished and if any more work is needed. Use gloss for the first coats , Satin is cloudy and wont allow as much of the grain to show through, you can leave it gloss if you want.
Stain is used to make low cost woods like pine look like more expensive woods. I refuse to put stain on quality woods like oak, cherry, walnut, etc.
Put at least 3 coats on that door. Sand with 120 grit, then 220. Put the first coat on diluted about 15% with mineral spirits. sand with 220 grit, then a full strength coat, sand with 220, then a third coat. You may want to wait 2 weeks, sand with 400 grit and put a fourth coat.
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