Roughsawn white pine farmhouse style tabletop

As always test your finishing schedule on some scraps before committing to the larger project, only you can decide if you like the results.

-- Bondo Gaposis

I did a farm table with a construction lumber top a few years ago (see projects). I did a thin coat of shellac followed by two coats of gel stain and then 6 coats of arm-r-seal. It’s held up fairly well.

-- No craft is very far from the line beyond which is magic. -- Lord Dunsany — Instagram @grailwoodworks

I personally hate staining pine, but.. when i have to i use a toner and skip the stain.

Trans-tint in shellac is a cheap easy toner, mix it light and spray light until you get the color you want.

Pine often gets the ugly stepsister treatment, but that’s wrong. Appreciate it for what it is.

Non-stained pine ages well and continues to get a nice patina. I stopped staining pine decades ago. Staining pine 99% of the time looks like crap.

Try a garnet or ruby shellac from flakes, 1 lb cut, several coats. Brown paper-bag gentle rub between coats.

After your final shellac coat, another gentle paper bag rub. Then a nice satin (not cheap looking glossy) topcoat, let cure, and a nice paste wax over the top.

That’s what I would do.

-- "A dying people tolerates the present, rejects the future, and finds its satisfactions in past greatness and half remembered glory" - John Steinbeck

I did a farm table with a construction lumber top a few years ago (see projects).
I did a thin coat of shellac followed by two coats of gel stain and then 6 coats of arm-r-seal.
It’s held up fairly well.
- JADobson

J.A. ~ do you remember how you finished the underside of that table ?

very nicely done.

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-- I am a painter: that's what I do, I like to paint things. --

Thanks John –
The stain covered the top and sides and about 12” of the underside – just enough to get past the aprons. Then the bottom got one coat of the arm-r-seal and it was done. Left it fairly rough too.

-- No craft is very far from the line beyond which is magic. -- Lord Dunsany — Instagram @grailwoodworks

I’m thinking about finishing a walnut kitchen island with a sink in it. I read up on Rubio Monocoat that you can get with a stain of your choice in it. It looks like it would hold up good to moisture and last. It’s a little expensive but I ordered a sample to try on a piece of walnut to see how it looks. I won’t have any stain in mine and will keep the color natural. I was thinking a stain in your project might look nice. Good luck with your project and enjoy.

-- John, Michigan