# Drying pine slab and how to finish?



## SamanthaJo (Nov 11, 2014)

Hi guys,
I have recently been given a 12 foot by 22 or 23 inch wide pine slab, I believe its some where between 2 and 4 inches thick ( I have yet to see it, so am not positive on thickness). Cut this past month. I know its going to take a few years to air dry so what are my options on drying? From what I have read there are two kinds of kiln drying that can be done. A vacuum kiln and conventional? Or am I mistaken. Also, once dry what are my options for finishing? I know a little bit about finishing, but have only done trim and cabinets all of which is dry and sanded. Can I just use minwax or something similar and then put a poly over it? Any information would be very helpful. I want to use the slab possibly as a bar top, I know pine is kind of a boring wood because there isn't much wood grain and it's a soft wood but hey its free. Also, what moisture content am I looking for to be sure I can proceed with the finishing process? Thanks in advance!

-Samantha


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## SamanthaJo (Nov 11, 2014)

I forgot to ask, what is checking? And how do I prevent it?


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

I don't know about the types of kiln drying. That question might be better asked at the forestry forum. Checking is where wood cracks as it drys. It's very common for this to happen especially on the ends. The timber should be coated on the ends with wax or anchor seal as soon as possible to prevent the timber from drying too fast. What happens is the wood toward the outside dries faster then in the middle and cracks. Coating the ends helps it dry at a more uniform rate. 

Minwax stain preforms well during application however I've seen it fade considerably within ten years so I would be reluctant to recommend it. I think a stain like wood classics from sherwin williams would be more colorfast. It takes a bit more skill to get a uniform color though. You just have to be very consistent in the manor of application. If you let one part of the project sit longer than another it is prone to get darker. 

When you stain pine you should use a wood conditioner prior to staining. Pine has soft and hard spots and when you stain it the soft spots get darker making the color blotchy. The wood conditioner evens it out better so it stains more uniform. The bad is you might have to use a darker stain as the conditioner is a sealer which makes the wood harder to stain. The nice thing about sherwin williams stains is colorant can be added to the stain to make it darker. Minwax you can only add dye to it or intermix it with another minwax stain.

Polyurethane is a good finish and if you don't have the means of spraying the wipe on would be the easiest for you. We kind of need to know what your intentions for the timber is before we can really say if polyurethane is the best choice. There are so many different finishes which each have their best application.


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## SamanthaJo (Nov 11, 2014)

Thank you! I hope to have the slab home with in a day or two I will get the ends sealed, where would I find anchor seal or what kind of wax? I would like to use the slab for a bar top. I was hoping to use a lighter stain due to the fact that the bar base is going to be stained in a light stain. Can a conditioner be colored or mixed with a stain to be able to use a lighter stain? Also, I do believe the slab still has the bark on it. What do I do with that?


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## HowardAcheson (Nov 25, 2011)

>>>> I will get the ends sealed,

Don't bother. End sealing is only effective if apply with 24 hours of the item being cut. All you can do now is to put the item in a place stored flat or on edge. More than likely it will dry flat.


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## SamanthaJo (Nov 11, 2014)

My only option now is to air dry or can I still kiln dry? I am new to this, have never finished a slab before.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

SamanthaJo said:


> Thank you! I hope to have the slab home with in a day or two I will get the ends sealed, where would I find anchor seal or what kind of wax? I would like to use the slab for a bar top. I was hoping to use a lighter stain due to the fact that the bar base is going to be stained in a light stain. Can a conditioner be colored or mixed with a stain to be able to use a lighter stain? Also, I do believe the slab still has the bark on it. What do I do with that?


Places like woodcraft sell anchorseal. I don't use enough to buy it. I have an old sauce pan I melt gulf wax in and apply it to the ends of the boards with a cheap throw away brush. 

The wood being as soft as it is you might consider a pour on epoxy finish. I wouldn't color the wood conditioner. The point of it is to seal the wood to prevent pigment from soaking into the soft parts of the wood. It's possible if you are using a light enough stain you might be able to skip the wood conditioner. When the time comes you might try some of the stain on the underside and see how it goes. The conditioner will make the stain color the wood lighter anyway. 

Most folks that have a live edge counter leave the bark on it if it will stay. What I understand if a tree is cut in the winter when the tree is dormant the bark will usually stay where if the tree is cut in summer the bark will usually come off.

You can still have wood kiln dried. It doesn't have to be done right away.


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## RandyReed (Jul 30, 2014)

You can color the pre conditioner as that would be the same as using a toner. I wouldnt tint the conditioner if your wanting a light color. Apply the preconditoner, sand with 320 grit, then apply your light stain.


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## SamanthaJo (Nov 11, 2014)

Oh man this is more complicated than I first thought. What kind of preconditioner would you recommend? The stain color is called summer oak. I will try and post a picture of some trim that I used the stain on. Also I'm a little bit resistant to epoxy I have heard its hard to work with.


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## SamanthaJo (Nov 11, 2014)

Same piece of trim the color shows maybe a tiny bit darker in the picture.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

It's not that complicated. Anything that goes wrong is fixable. If you stain it and it blotches just stop where you are and wash as much of the stain off as you can with lacquer thinner. Once dry you can sand it again and do the stain over again. It also helps with woods that are prone to blotch when you are sanding to wet the wood with water and raise the grain when changing sandpaper to a finer grit. This makes the sanding more effective. I normally sand softwoods to 220 grit. The better the wood is sanded the less likely it is to blotch. 

The rustoleum summer oak is a fairly light stain. You might give it a try without the conditioner. As far as conditioner I don't buy any factory made conditioner, I use a 50/50 mixture of boiled linseed oil and mineral spirits and allow it to dry. Then sand it with some 220 or finer sandpaper before staining it.

Yes the epoxy finish is hard to work with but makes a harder more durable surface for a counter.

I found this picture of a board that wasn't sanded well and was stained with the summer oak. You can see a lot of it looks ok however there is places where the wood is torn when it was surfaced and has the dark blotchy spots. This is what you need to look for when preparing the counter to be stained.


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## SamanthaJo (Nov 11, 2014)

Good to know about wetting the wood between grits. I think I'm going to practice on scrap pine. I will try with conditioner and without see how it turns out. I'm not overly concerned about a super hard finish. Its only going to get light use.

This is slightly off topic of how to finish a pine slab but the base of the bar is oak, is a pine bar top going to look bad? Should I consider finding an already dried oak slab and finishing it and keeping the pine for another project?


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

SamanthaJo said:


> Good to know about wetting the wood between grits. I think I'm going to practice on scrap pine. I will try with conditioner and without see how it turns out. I'm not overly concerned about a super hard finish. Its only going to get light use.
> 
> This is slightly off topic of how to finish a pine slab but the base of the bar is oak, is a pine bar top going to look bad? Should I consider finding an already dried oak slab and finishing it and keeping the pine for another project?


With a live edge on the pine I don't think it would hurt to mix the woods.


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## SamanthaJo (Nov 11, 2014)

Thanks for uploading the picture that helps a lot! And ya I thought it would be okay but I just wanted to see what you thought. Now I just need to get it dried. Lol


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