# Finishing a Virgin Pine Table



## thedoveshooter (Dec 3, 2012)

I'm no professional at woodworking; my main experience is from 2 years of high school wood shop and simple woodwork on the farm.

I'm getting a dinning table build from virgin pine reclaimed from our 125 year old barn. The wood looks new, but still retains most of the old saw marks from its original milling. The guy building it for me has 30+ years experience and he said its the toughest wood he's ever worked with. The boards are much heavier than anything you can buy now.

Anyway, my question is how should I finish the table? I don't want to stain it, its too beautiful. I just want to protect it.

Thanks!


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

The most common finish I would recommend is a oil based polyurethane. It would give the table protection from water and be easy enough to be worked with a brush. Probably a satin sheen would be more appropriate with pine. If you have the means of spraying you might consider a conversion varnish. It's a harder more durable finish but more expensive.


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## Homewright (Nov 30, 2012)

I've really gotten away from poly finishes in favor of oil finishes. Watco or Tung oil would be a great choice. It's also fairly foolproof because you brush it on then wipe with a rag a bit later. Here's a picture of what Watco (10 coats) looks like on rustic wood.


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## thedoveshooter (Dec 3, 2012)

I was thinking tung oil. Should I fill the grain with something first? Maybe shellac?


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## Ozrob (Apr 21, 2008)

Hi DS,
Poly won't yellow the table and will give a good shine. But I am an oil finish guy and I like Tung Oil. If you try this method you probably won't need Shellac, though it wouldn't hurt.
Use your Tung Oil dilutred 1:2 with White Spirits and follow the method. You will get a table that is heat and liquid resistant, shines beautifully and has excellent grain differentiation. Best of all, you can wipe it down with kitchen cleaners (such as Spray and Wipe) with absolutely no deleterious effects.
Here's a couple of examples for you.

Regards,

Rob


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

thedoveshooter said:


> I was thinking tung oil. Should I fill the grain with something first? Maybe shellac?


 Grain filler is not something you use with pine. Its for open grain wood like oak, walnut and mahogany. If you mean trying to fill the texture from the saw mill marks I would do that with a chemical coating like shellac or polyurethane. You're not going to surface that out with tung oil without many many coats over many months. Tung oil is a very slow drying finish and I wouldn't put tung oil over shellac.


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## Ozrob (Apr 21, 2008)

Steve Neul said:


> . You're not going to surface that out with tung oil without many many coats over many months. Tung oil is a very slow drying finish and I wouldn't put tung oil over shellac.


Hi Steve,
Using a hard burnishing method, you need only apply one saturating coat of Tung Oil/White Spirit with another light coat immediately before wet sanding to achieve a great result. The only timber I have found this not to work on has been Australian Red Cedar. This is a method I have been using almost exclusively for five years now. The pieces I have finished this way still have the shine they had when done and are still highly resistant to fluid and radiant heat.

Regards,

Rob


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

Ozrob said:


> Hi Steve,
> Using a hard burnishing method, you need only apply one saturating coat of Tung Oil/White Spirit with another light coat immediately before wet sanding to achieve a great result. The only timber I have found this not to work on has been Australian Red Cedar. This is a method I have been using almost exclusively for five years now. The pieces I have finished this way still have the shine they had when done and are still highly resistant to fluid and radiant heat.
> 
> Regards,
> ...


I was just confused over the grain filler on pine. In the first post the OP mentioned the wood not being fully surfaced and had saw marks on it so I was wondering if he was trying to level the surface with the finish so that would be a lot to ask of tung oil.


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## Ozrob (Apr 21, 2008)

Certainly would!!

Regards,

Rob


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## thedoveshooter (Dec 3, 2012)

I picked up the table today. I'll post pics of after finishing ASAP.


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