Quick finish of on pine?

[Dan Oelke]

I am currently putting together a sideboard that is to be a prop for an upcoming community theater production. Of course I am WAY behind schedule and have no budget for this.

The no-budget had me build it out of pine - I was able to get some #2 pine at the BORG for pretty cheap and combined with some 1/2" plywood I already had laying around I have the carcass pretty much done. I have to make a couple of doors and finish attaching the trim molding. This is supposed to be "junked up" as the director said so I created a number of moldings on the router table and need to cut/miter them and attach with some glue and "brads until the glue sets".

Since this is for a play it won't have any audience members closer than about 10-12 feet, and most audience members considerably farther away than that. I need to finish this and do so in a hurry. Durability is NOT a concern. Close up looks are NOT a concern.

My plan was to use some Minwax wood conditioner that I have - it seems to help out with blotchy stain coverage, and then some "walnut" stain, followed by some sort of top coat.

Because time is tight, and I have a lot of routed beads, moldings, ect I was thinking of spraying the finishes on. I have a air-sprayer and have had pretty good success using it in the past to spray paint metal items so I think I have the technique of using it down - just have never tried it on woodworking projects. Does applying the conditioner, or stain work well with one of these? Any hints or suggestions? What about a quick to apply/dry clear finish?

Thanks, Dan

[FriscoSoxFan]

Avoid the clear finishes. Go with stain only or a flat paint. Use darker shades unless the director wants light wood. Bright stage lights + a gloss finish = bad news.

[eag111]

Can't help with all your questions, but I would say that in my experience using wood conditioner on pine really helps even out the stain; even if time is tight, i wouldn't skip that step. I have no experience spraying, though.

[SonomaProducts.com]

Yes you can spray the Minwax conditioner and stain. Make SURE to pour them through a sieve/strainer or cheese cloth as you put them in the bottle, especially the stain.

If you are looking for "junked up" you could likely skip the conditioner step. Also, I think you can place the conditioner and stain just as fast with a big soft paint brush and a bucket.

Any lacquer will be quick dry. The Borg's have seemed to shy away from carrying real spraying lacquer anymore so you could spray Deft right from the can. It says "not for spraying" but the reality is they are likely saying that beacuse of the environmental issue, rather than an application problem. It sprays fine for me in a pinch. They Deft needs to be stirred well and especially the semi-gloss or satin. They should also be sieved because they have "flatteners" and coloring (white paint) added in and they really settle out and can be a little grainy.

I sprayed about 50 seperate pieces (with deft) this last weekend, 30-45 minutes between coats and I was lightly sanding with 600 before the second coat.

[Bill Waller]

Been there, done that. :-)

Dry brush flat latex.

Bill Waller New Eagle, PA

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[Dan Oelke]

Well - I might be able to brush it just as fast - but I doubt it. I tend to over apply it and then spend a lot of time catching drips - especially because I used the bead bit on darn near every vertical corner on this piece.

I was thinking of getting some Deft - I have brushed and used the spray cans of it in the long ago past. 4-H projects for the fair never seemed to get finished until the day before and judges didn't seem to have a sense of humor about getting half-dry finish on their fingers. Deft was EXCELLENT for this - it even dried pretty quick on humid August days.

I browsed Minwax's site a little and they don't list spraying as an official method anywhere, but their forums talk about it a number of places.

After being at their site I have started thinking about the "PolyShade" stuff - I have always HATED how that looked as it covered up the wood to much for me - but for this project it might work ok. Any thoughts on that?

--Dan

[Dan Oelke]

Good point - I knew that - but in my haste had forgotten about it.

[Will]

Conditioner, stain, wipe on poly. (whether sprayed or wiped)

The wipe-on dries almost as fast as you can apply. I can usually handle the piece where it was first applied by the time I get to the last portion of the item.

Satin finish should prevent too much glare, and if there is glare - a quick rub with steel wool.

That's what I do when I want to use a new tool table with> S>

[Edwin Pawlowski]

This is a one time use thing? Get a can of cheap stain, a foam brush and put the stain on. Wipe the excess after 15 minutes and you are done; ready to be used in an hour. No top coat needed. No conditioner needed. Down side is that it may need a touch up in ten years or so.

[firstjois]

you can use acrylic paint out of the can right over the stain.

Josie

[bridger]

consider paint rather than stain. between the plywood and the pine you have a piece that will be difficult to get a consistent finish on with stain.

first bang the piece up a bit. use a wire brush to make the grain stand up a bit. whack it a few times with a hammer through a sack of gravel. pay special attention to edges and corners. then prime it and paint it a color a bit darker than what you want it to end up looking like. let that dry and wipe it down with a color a bit lighter than what you want it to end up looking like, thinned down and rubbed off with a rag before it dries.

if the theater has some set painters with experience, see if you can get them to help.

[SonomaProducts.com]

The brushing I was speaking of was just for the conditionaer and stain. In both cases I always apply way too much and wipe it down a few minutes later, so "drips" aren't a problem. The only real problem is that stain can wick back out of joints (later when youy aren't looking). and cause dark patches around these areas. That's why I prefer a brush so I can slosh it on the big areas and use a nearly dry brush in the areas I'm worried about stain hiding in the cracks. Can't do that so easy with spraying.

The Polyshades stuff works fine. Production furniture shops use this technique (not this product) quite a bit. In fact some classic finishes use a toned film finish, think amber shellac, etc. The only problem with this is it's pretty hard to get an even look, overlaps show a lot, but it would probably be OK for this project to combine the color and film in one step. Also Polyshades is impossible to repair.

[Phisherman]