NFT: Question for BBI woodworking experts re: finishing

makes a natural polyurethane that I have used on a few projects and it works great.

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remember, it will darken considerably over the next few years.

yeah it's a sign Im going to hang on the wall. Just wanted to darken it a very little

Once it dries.

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Smells AWESOME, Stays Natural... (esp on Pine) ALL NATURAL!! Its pretty much all I use anymore! Skidmores

Def way more than U'll need but lasts a long time!

I finished close to 1000' of Live Edge Cherry from a tree that came down during Super-storm Sandy on my property & MY GOD The room looks awesome!! (in fact Susan from Skidmores wants to put pics of my creation on her web site!)
Skidmores - ( New Window )

Works great but it's a bitch to collect.

Helps keep down the blotching that's typically associated with it. You could also use a wood finishing product and a urethane.

Keeping the smell down to a minimum would require a water based product, which would protect the wood but I'm not a fan of the low-sheen, plasticky sort of finish they leave behind.

but I have a similar question for you guys. I'm finishing up constructing an large red oak dining room table and I'm not sure what to use for a finish. In past projects I've always used Minwax stains with polyurethane, which work just fine. But I wanted to try to color match this table with the hutch, which came from a furniture store and is more of a dark, solid color which doesn't show much wood grain. I was thinking of using a wood dye (which I've never used before). My goal is to achieve a solid, uniform color. Thanks guys.

In comment 13137255 JimInKgnNY said:

Quote:

but I have a similar question for you guys. I'm finishing up constructing an large red oak dining room table and I'm not sure what to use for a finish. In past projects I've always used Minwax stains with polyurethane, which work just fine. But I wanted to try to color match this table with the hutch, which came from a furniture store and is more of a dark, solid color which doesn't show much wood grain. I was thinking of using a wood dye (which I've never used before). My goal is to achieve a solid, uniform color. Thanks guys.

Find a local dealer for General Finishes, and see if they've got a gel stain that matches the color of the hutch. By all means, work with a piece of scrap wood and samples first, because there's no coming back from that.

The gel stains are combo pigment and sealant, so if the intent is to get a darker color with minimal wood grain showing through, you'll get what you're looking for. You'll still have to apply a sealant as a finishing coat though.

Thanks so much for the suggestion. I was just on the Rockler.com website the other night and noticed that they sell General Finishes gel stains in quart cans. In fact, one of the colors was kind of close to what I want. Maybe I'll pick one up and play around with it on some scrap pieces to see what it looks like.