finishing tips for yellow pine?

[Brian]

I'm finishing up a country dining room table made from yellow pine. Never having worked with yellow pine, is there anything to watch out for? I'm using a Minwax oil base stain, probably topped with clear wipe-on polyurethane and wax, or just wax.

I expect the wood to get dented and such from wear, it's quite soft compared to maple or white oak, but I am more concerned with possible staining from wine and such, and basic maintenance years from now. Part of me says a poly finish will be more impervious to liquids, part of me says wax will be easier to maintain long term. Any advice?

Cheers, Brian

[Jim Mc Namara]

Do the poly - let it cure for 3-5 days . . . Minwax paste wax over the poly. Practically indestructible to stains

jim

[Ramsey]

For some reason, I would tend to look for a penetrating finish - Silkens maybe? Pine will turn gray over a period of time especially if outdoors. Actually, I rather enjoy the color of gray wood outside - looks more realistic I guess. Pine is So soft that I would like a finish "in" the wood rather than on it. Others can give you a better idea probably.

[Brad Heidinger]

I would use a wood conditioner prior to applying any stain. It will reduce the chance of stain "blotches" that are typical in pine. Follow directions on the can.

For a kitchen table, I would use three or four coats of thinned wipe-on poly (2/3 poly, 1/3 turp), then follow up a nice coat of wax. Lightly sand in-between coats. It should be smooth without the plastic look and feel.

Note: If you stain the wood. A homemade wipe-on poly as described above will pull off some stain due to the turpentine. To avoid this, you can use straight poly out of the can for first coat.

Good Luck, Brad

Brian wrote:

[Larry Jaques]

On Mon, 11 Aug 2003 13:51:25 -0400, "Brian" pixelated:

I'm an eternal lover of varnish. Try Waterlox, then wax if you like. The amber (not yellow, not oragne) tone it imparts to that pineywood stuff is very nice, it's waterproof, and is a fairly tough but easy to repair finish.

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[Bill Wallace]

Make sure to prep the wood before staining with a lite sanding sealer or pre-stain conditioner. Min Wax makes a Pre-stain conditioner which works fine. You can put stain on 15 minutes after application (I think). Pine will blotch with even the lightest stain and you will be very unhappy if you don't do this first.

Also, some woods can work well with no stain when you want a natural look and will age well but Pine should always be stained as it will tend to fade with time. Somehow even the lightest stain seems to reverse this and let it darken nicely with age.

[Mike S.]

I was at the Woodcraft Store in St. Louis about a month ago picking up some Bartley wipe on stain and the guy that teaches the finishing class was there. I asked him about finishing pine and he told me to wipe on one coat of Shallac and after it dries sand to no finer then 180 grit. Then apply the stain. I tried it on a scrape piece when I got back and it worked great.