I made a plaque out of a board of pine and used a woodburning pen to engrave some dates into it. I'd like to put on a nice finishing coat of something to give it a natural looking stain, but since it will be indoors I don't want it to smell too bad.
Anyone have any suggestions for a finishing agent that will keep the generally color of the pine but give it a "finished" look without smelling too bad?
TIA
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 )
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.
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.