Hello again-
Gosh Mike and Preston I can't thank you enough for your suggestions.
As I may or may not I have mentioned I am a jeweler by trade. Working with wood is a wonderful new experience though vaguely familiar. :) In fact I am finding that most of the tools I work with everyday are here too just bigger and a wee bit louder. :) The biggest difference is the whole question of finishes. HD and Lowes seem to have a fair selection of choices but when I ask a clerk or look at a book I get so confused. I know this is because I am still learning but it can be so frustrating too.
A dear friend who knows wood way better than I ever will says the old woodwork in my home is pine. My house was built between 1891 and 1901. Since the exactly same woodwork is every house I have been in from the same era I can definitely believe him. Its so common here that it has to be something that was cheap and readily available back in the
1890s. I assume whatever finish was used was pretty cheap and easy as well. I am very lucky because our woodwork has been left original and unpainted. A lot of the Victorian houses around us were rentals and so the woodwork was painted many times. Now if I could only find a good way of mending the scratches left my a 100 plus years of residents without losing that marvelous chocolate walnut finish. Sigh.... well that's another project. Strange isn't how one tiny dyi leads to another.
Anyway the recipe of a conditioner, stain or dye, and a wipe-on varnish/polyurethane sounds like it will produce a finish that will harmonize with the woodwork. I assume the conditioner will make the pine more receptive to the stain and then the poly will make it impermeable to spills and easy to clean? I often eat at my desk and I am terrible about spilling stuff so that's a definite need. :)
On a happy note I spent my day building a 4x8" work table is the far end of my lab today. Even hung some new lights. Now I have a proper place to build and work wood. Tomorrow I will hit HD and my tiny scrap pile to practice that finish.
Can't wait honestly. My lab is such a nice cool place to work this time of year.
Take care- Amy ===================================================== For great deals on fabulous jewlery and gifts check out
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