Hall bench build finished (less finish)

[whittler1507]

The bench is complete, less for finishing, Really worried about finishing this resinous pine. From the research I've done I'm going to condition (twice), stain it a light oak colour, then varnish with a semi gloss. Hopefully it won't come out blotchy.

Any questions or suggestions please feel free

 

[custard]

That's a substantial project Whittler and you've done a cracking job. How many hours did it take excluding finishing?

 

[NazNomad]

Lovely... just one question though.

Is the bungee cord structural? :-D

 

[monkeybiter]

That's a nice piece! I wish I had enough room in my house to take something like that, I definitely fancy having a crack at something similar.

 

[MrTeroo]

That's beautiful!

 

[whittler1507]

Thank you everyone, it's taken about a week I suppose. Have been finding my way through? I've really enjoyed this project, it's for a friend so wanted to do a good job. It's the first time I've made this many panels, learnt a lot about gluing up lol, mainly the blind panic when it goes wrong. The bungee is just hold the top of the sides in. I should say that the top and bottom come apart for transport (I'm in north Yorks, my friends in Wiltshire) so need to be able to break this up to transport)

Still getting ready to finish, this for me is the most worrying part as don't want to mess up now.

 

[Hot stuff]

Lovely settle and you're a brave man staining it! I'd be making a panel or two for practicing on to see how the edges of the raised part are going to look compared to the flat faces. Are you going to mix your own conditioner?
Something I've fancied making for ages but getting herself to take photos of examples we've seen in our travels is as far as I've got so far.

Good luck.

 

[Stanleymonkey]

That looks amazing, and something I would love to try when I get my own stately home! You are a good man to your friends and you have done a fantastic job there.

 

[MusicMan]

Rather than varnish, you could use wax directly after the light stain. This looks very nice and is very unlikely to blotch. Only disadvantage is that it could mark if a hot drink is put on it, but that is unlikely in a bench, and if you didn't like it you could always strip the wax off! This was essentially the traditional treatment for church pews.

Keith

 

[whittler1507]

Thank Hot Stuff lol (exec nick) staining is a worry although have read that wiping down with white spirit, then conditioning before staining will give a uniformed colour.

Think I'll make a panel tomorrow to test it on though (thanks) lol


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[ColeyS1]

Looks really smart ! Can you get the panels out to stain them- just incase they shrink and show an unstained edge ? Nice job that [WINKING FACE]

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[custard]

One thing Whittler, ideally you'd have stained the panels before assembly. The risk is they'll shrink after staining and expose "grins", bare unstained areas.

But you are where you are, so in your position I'd leave it in a warm environment for as long as possible before staining so that as much of the shrinking as possible takes place.

 

[whittler1507]

Thanks Custard, another lesson learnt I guess. Think I'll put it in my spare room for a few weeks, hopefully that will shrink it enough.

Very confused as to the finish there's a lot of conflicting information on the web. Danish oil, then PU varnish etc. What do you think???

 

[Hot stuff]

I think it's going to be a matter of personal taste really and it's going to change in appearance reasonably quickly if it's subject to direct light etc.
I've re finished heaps of pine furniture and never managed to get a predictable, repeatable finish yet I don't think. Best results I had were when I "aged" it first with drain cleaner. That and wax gives a nice mellow look, but it's not to everybody's taste. Might be worth a try though, drain cleaner and water half and half, wear gloves, it's nippy stuff.

 

[whittler1507]

Drain cleaner?? What does it do, I assume you need to wash it off before varnish?

 

[Hot stuff]

Mix it with water, rag or sponge it on, be alarmed because your pine has turned bright yellow, leave to dry over night then finish your beautifully aged piece of furniture as normal.
It works a treat but does different things to different bits of wood so you'll need to experiment first. No different to any other finish though, as it says on the tins, try on a hidden piece first.
I use it all the time to match sanded table tops to the legs.

 

[DTR]

Brilliant! =D>

Luckily it wouldn't fit in our house, otherwise SWMBO would have me trying to make one #-o