I've made a chess board/piece box thingie (pictures will go up somewhere
once it's finished) out of of what used to be an unfinished pine table.
The wood is a bit knotty, and it was quite dirty, with some bad stains. I
sanded off a lot of the grime, but I left some of it, and I didn't work at
taking all of the old, yellowed surface layer off. I think the combination
of light and dark makes for a nice sort of built from recycled crap rustic
look.
The board is slated to be used while camping, in particular, so I didn't
choose this project as a place to experiment with a "real" finish. I
plasti-dipped the thing with three coats of good ol' Minwhacks Helmsman
Spar Urethane, because I had some on hand.
I've used that stuff on maple walking sticks a lot, and I find that the
places where I've left the cambium to oxidize have remained in contrast to
the underlying wood pretty nicely over the years.
I'm wondering if I can expect the same on pine, or if the stuff will somehow
yellow under the poly back to a uniform shade. This is of particular
concern for the board itself, which I made using a cheap saw kerf and
contrasting stain technique. The stain didn't take too well, and the dark
isn't quite as dark as I wanted. It looks quite nice IMHO, but I'm
concerned that the already somewhat low contrast between light and dark
will worsen over time.
I can do something about that if it happens, certainly. I'm just curious as
to whether I need to count on having to do so eventually.
I did seal everything top and bottom, inside and out, if that makes any
difference.
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/