Coffee Table

[forester2927]

This is my first time building any kind of furniture and I'm putting together a coffee table from a pine slab as a Christmas present. I've got it leveled and sanded just wondering if anyone has any suggestion for finishing it. I was thinking of using a satin poly or shellac. Im a novice at this, but my idea is to use a single or couple of large multistem manzanita for the legs. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Christos]

This looks like an interesting project. If it was me I would go for a poly finish, I might even suggest a wipe on poly. It is a little easier to apply.

Shellac tends to give a tinge of yellow and on white wood it would be noticeable. There is a blond shellac but have not tried it so not sure on the results. Best to try on a test piece.

[Tahlee]

A nice piece of tree ... an interesting talking point

As pine is a very porous wood there will be varying degrees of take-up of the finish you apply. I would suggest that you use a couple of coats of a sanding sealer before applying the finish.

If you choose a poly finish .. and that is what I would choose, be sure to apply it with a THIN coat (did I stress thin enough?). 3 thin coats will get you a much better finish than trying to put that much poly on the wood in one or two goes.

A LIGHT sand (240 or greater) between sanding ... some would use 0000 steel wool between coats )OK if not a water based poly)

A wipe on poly is thinned down poly and is easy to apply .. a brushed on poly needs a bit more skill but it isn't all that hard to learn.

Be sure to seal both sides, and the natural edge too. You may wish to use a 2 part resin to set the knot holes and fill the gaps/splits around the knots .. an extra step but it may be a good investment as the timber moves over the year.

I don't know of the manzanita wood .. Wikipedia say that its is "is also used as perches for parrots and other large pet birds. and Manzanita wood, when dry, is excellent for burning in a campfire, barbecue, fireplace, or stove. It is dense and burns at a high temperature for long periods" If you choose a large multi stem piece then it might be worthwhile to use fixings that allow the top to move otherwise you may end up with cracking .. depends really on how big the support piece is .. a tree stump or an inverted branch will hve differing flex qualities.
Good work.

Be sure to post a pic of the finished job

Regards

Rob

[forester2927]

A nice piece of tree ... an interesting talking point

As pine is a very porous wood there will be varying degrees of take-up of the finish you apply. I would suggest that you use a couple of coats of a sanding sealer before applying the finish.

If you choose a poly finish .. and that is what I would choose, be sure to apply it with a THIN coat (did I stress thin enough?). 3 thin coats will get you a much better finish than trying to put that much poly on the wood in one or two goes.

A LIGHT sand (240 or greater) between sanding ... some would use 0000 steel wool between coats )OK if not a water based poly)

A wipe on poly is thinned down poly and is easy to apply .. a brushed on poly needs a bit more skill but it isn't all that hard to learn.

Be sure to seal both sides, and the natural edge too. You may wish to use a 2 part resin to set the knot holes and fill the gaps/splits around the knots .. an extra step but it may be a good investment as the timber moves over the year.

I don't know of the manzanita wood .. Wikipedia say that its is "is also used as perches for parrots and other large pet birds. and Manzanita wood, when dry, is excellent for burning in a campfire, barbecue, fireplace, or stove. It is dense and burns at a high temperature for long periods" If you choose a large multi stem piece then it might be worthwhile to use fixings that allow the top to move otherwise you may end up with cracking .. depends really on how big the support piece is .. a tree stump or an inverted branch will hve differing flex qualities.
Good work.

Be sure to post a pic of the finished job

Regards

Rob

How would you seal the edges? Spray on poly? They are rough from insect galleries and natural edges. Planing to use an orbital to clean/smooth loose edges, but want to maintain the natural look.

[forester2927]

A nice piece of tree ... an interesting talking point

As pine is a very porous wood there will be varying degrees of take-up of the finish you apply. I would suggest that you use a couple of coats of a sanding sealer before applying the finish.

If you choose a poly finish .. and that is what I would choose, be sure to apply it with a THIN coat (did I stress thin enough?). 3 thin coats will get you a much better finish than trying to put that much poly on the wood in one or two goes.

A LIGHT sand (240 or greater) between sanding ... some would use 0000 steel wool between coats )OK if not a water based poly)

A wipe on poly is thinned down poly and is easy to apply .. a brushed on poly needs a bit more skill but it isn't all that hard to learn.

Be sure to seal both sides, and the natural edge too. You may wish to use a 2 part resin to set the knot holes and fill the gaps/splits around the knots .. an extra step but it may be a good investment as the timber moves over the year.

I don't know of the manzanita wood .. Wikipedia say that its is "is also used as perches for parrots and other large pet birds. and Manzanita wood, when dry, is excellent for burning in a campfire, barbecue, fireplace, or stove. It is dense and burns at a high temperature for long periods" If you choose a large multi stem piece then it might be worthwhile to use fixings that allow the top to move otherwise you may end up with cracking .. depends really on how big the support piece is .. a tree stump or an inverted branch will hve differing flex qualities.
Good work.

Be sure to post a pic of the finished job

Regards

Rob

This is kind of what I was thinking. Manzanita is a shrub in the Sierra that I have a lot of access to. It has a reddish color and has really cool lines.

[forester2927]

Would you use a spray on poly for the edges? They have really cool galleries and imperfections that I'd like to maintain. I plan on using an orbital sander and wire brush to clean out the loose stuff.

[TongueTied]

You could spray out but I'd suggest using wipe on poly and just brush it on the edges. On the surfaces, I'd do a sanding sealer and then wipe on poly and apply that poly with a cloth

[soundman]

Because you have a bark to bark slab, there will be issues with the poreosity and stability of the sapwood.

I know there are lots of p[eople who like poly ...... Yeh shelac will be a more reliable product and can be made to do a few good things ...... U beaut have a couple of shealc products that have nowhere near the yelowing or more accuraltly goldish tinge ...... BTW all mineral bassed poly will have a yelowish tinge.

Hard shelac, which is a good coffee table finish teneds to be less gold than ordinary shelac.

White shalec is nearly water clear and tends to be a bit harder than ordinary shelac.

the big advantage to shelac is .. no matter how far you thin it the resin remains sound and functional ....... many other finishes the resins are compromised if thinned too far and they fail to set up and crosslink properly.

I have had real good sucess with very thin cuts of shelac used as sealers and stabilisers of soft and porous woods.

using a thin cut of shalac you can just keep laying it on till the timber just wont take any more ... it will penetrate deep ... I mean realy deep ..... I have seen it come thru the other side of a 10mm thick bowl.

Once you have got the timber evenly choked up, you can decide if you want to continue with shalac and get a finish with a optical quality that cant be beat, or change to another product ..because you can go over shelac with almost anything.

cheers

[forester2927]

I know there are lots of p[eople who like poly ...... Yeh shelac will be a more reliable product and can be made to do a few good things ...... U beaut have a couple of shealc products that have nowhere near the yelowing or more accuraltly goldish tinge ...... BTW all mineral bassed poly will have a yelowish tinge.

Hard shelac, which is a good coffee table finish teneds to be less gold than ordinary shelac.

White shalec is nearly water clear and tends to be a bit harder than ordinary shelac.

the big advantage to shelac is .. no matter how far you thin it the resin remains sound and functional ....... many other finishes the resins are compromised if thinned too far and they fail to set up and crosslink properly.

I have had real good sucess with very thin cuts of shelac used as sealers and stabilisers of soft and porous woods.

using a thin cut of shalac you can just keep laying it on till the timber just wont take any more ... it will penetrate deep ... I mean realy deep ..... I have seen it come thru the other side of a 10mm thick bowl.

Once you have got the timber evenly choked up, you can decide if you want to continue with shalac and get a finish with a optical quality that cant be beat, or change to another product ..because you can go over shelac with almost anything.

cheers

Thanks Soundman. I was leaning toward Shellac...would you use it on the edges as well? When you say switch it up once it's choked, do you mean switch to a Poly? Also I haven't been able to find the Ubeaut products in my area...is this something you have to order?

[soundman]

younwill only find the ubeaut products in specialist woodcraft suppliers, or neil will ship it direct.

I would definitely use the shelac on all areas of the timber ....... yes if you must you could switch to polly .... but whay bother ..shelac will do the whole job.

cheers