Help me pick my finishing process

[benchandstuff]

spent the last few hours learning more than i'll need to know about finishing.

I've got about 4 different options for protecting my workbench:

I can do straight BLO and straight varnish.

I can do a oil/varnish mix (varnish, boiled linseed oil and mineral spirits)

I can do a ''wiping varnish" (varnish, mineral spirits)

I can do a straight varnish.

I'm wondering what main differences I'm really going to see between all the options. I don't mind adding a little color but I don't want it to be yellow. I have light pine so that might be an issue.

I'm leaning away from straight BLO/straight varnish unless it would give far superior results but then I have to worry about the yellowing right?

If I did a oil/varnish mix would having less oil give it less of a yellowing? which ones have the best ratios? which oil/varnish mixes have the best results in general?

Or, skip all the oils and go straight to poly varnish coatings? Would a straight varnish give it any pop or would it just look like I clearcoated the bare wood? Does the nice look/color come from the oil or varnish?

Thanks in advance!

[rmac]

Now that you've ruled out stain, I think your best bet for deciding among the remaining options would be to try them all! Not on the bench, of course, but on some test pieces. This is about the only way to really see how any particular finish is going to look on any particular piece of wood, and you're the only one who can judge what looks best to you.

So grab some of the scraps left over from the project to use as test pieces (or buy another 2x4 if you didn't save the scraps). Be sure to sand them the same way you did your bench (this is important), then just experiment with the various finishes that you are considering until you find the one you like. If you make some careful notes about what you do to each test piece, then you'll be able to duplicate the process when you attack the bench itself.

No matter what finish you choose, you will probably find that the end grain surfaces of the boards look darker than the others. If you want to, you can even out this color variation somewhat by sanding the end grain surfaces with finer sandpaper than you did the others. Again, practice on scraps and write down what you did so you can repeat the process later.

Good luck!

-- Russ

[benchandstuff]

That would certainly be the ideal way to do it! I don't own any of them though since this is my first wood project, so I'd be paying $10-20 a pop per can just to try one out. I don't mind a reddish-orange color I think that looks great, but I just don't want yellow. Something like this would be nice but this was from staining so i dunno if that's possible.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3318/3673292467_5003063407.jpg

Anything that might give it that look? How will a straight varnish only change it? Would a wiping varnish like Formbys do anything or should i stay away from those.

[rmac]

That would certainly be the ideal way to do it! I don't own any of them though since this is my first wood project, so I'd be paying $10-20 a pop per can just to try one out.

Look at it this way. You're going to need varnish for any of your options, and mineral spirits, too, if only to clean your tools. So the only extra cost to do the experiments is the BLO, which you also might need anyway if that ends up being your preferred choice. The cost of not doing the experiments is that you might ruin your project with a finish that you don't like after it's too late. Surely it's worth the price of a small can of BLO to avoid that.

Then the other thing to realize is that you're not going to use up all your finishing materials on this one project. That means that for the next few projects, the finishing stuff will be free.

I just don't see how you can rely on other people's opinions about something so personal and subjective. If you're as concerned as you seem to be about the color and the look you're going for on this project, you really need to play around on some scraps first.

-- Russ

[CessnaPilotBarry]

I really like plain ol' Natural Watco for benches. This is essentially premixed, store bought, "option 2" to the OP.

I do not like film finishes on benches. They are hard to repair, slippery, and ugly when damaged.

On a bench, slippery is very bad, as hold downs, bench hooks, planing stops, etc... all work better with a bit of traction. Also, if you need to reflatten, a film is toast.

[Derwood]

Ace Spar - not kidding. Do a mix with mineral and tung oil if you'd like. B

Apply it, sand it down with 0000 steel wool. Wipe down and make sure to use a tack cloth when cleaning up the sanding bits to a T. Then apply the spar or mixture again, sand it down and so on. I do this 5-8 times depending where it's going/ uses and wood type. Yours being pine, a preconditioner will help big time. I love doing pine now. Hard at first but patience teaches us all to see the beauty in anything.

[benchandstuff]

I figured since i'm screwing around experimenting that I'd try stain on a test piece. I used the minwax pre stain conditioner and that made the color so dull I gave up and tried it again on bare wood. This was after 3 coats how many could it possibly need. colors don't even seem close

Colonial Maple / Gold Pecan

compared to http://www.jeffswood...tainColors.html

the maple looks pink instead of reddish orange..

[benchandstuff]

problem solved... don't use Minwax stain. Got some stuff called Old Master's and its about 100x better no exaggeration. I mixed puritan pine and maple 1:1.

what's a good varnish to finish it off with? I'd like to avoid yellowing, don't really need to add more color but a red tint wouldn't hurt. mostly looking just to protect the stain. not sure what is/isn't compatable with this wiping stain. probably gonna wait 2 days before doing any varnish just incase. no rush time on this project, but something that applies easily will be nice. not looking for a spray kind.