I'm curious, do any of the pine wood hardeners, or wood hardeners in
general, work? Pine is cheap these days relative to other woods and
I'm wondering if there's a way to harden the wood such that it doesn't
get scratched/nicked/dented as easily. I'm just wanting to make the
surface stronger. The finishes I like to use are either stain
(typically a Minwax color) or some paint, if required.
On Sat, 11 Oct 2003 12:12:16 GMT, George <[email protected]>
pixelated:
>I'm curious, do any of the pine wood hardeners, or wood hardeners in
>general, work? Pine is cheap these days relative to other woods and
>I'm wondering if there's a way to harden the wood such that it doesn't
>get scratched/nicked/dented as easily. I'm just wanting to make the
>surface stronger. The finishes I like to use are either stain
>(typically a Minwax color) or some paint, if required.
I'm curious, too. When you add up the costs:
1) stain (to make pine look like a hardwood, which it won't)
and
2) hardener (to make pine act like hardwood, which it doesn't)
and
3) supplies (brushes, solvents, shop or paper towels, etc.)
plus
4) your time to do all of the above,
you end up spending a hell of a lot more of your precious time
and equal or MORE money for softwood than it would have cost to
purchase the hardwood you were trying to emulate.
My question is simple: Why do it?
That was where I was curious. I just finished building a pine bunkbed
for one of my kids and my wife wanted to paint it rather than stain
it. It's too late now as the paint is on and I can no longer see the
wood :-( I like stain because I can see the wood -and- its
penetration tends to hide dents a bit better vs. cracking & showing
the wood.
On Sun, 12 Oct 2003 10:07:21 -0700, Rico <[email protected]> wrote:
>George wrote:
>> From what I'm gathering from people, the answer is "don't bother". I
>> was just just curious because I was at the hardware store the other
>> day and they had a Minwax hardener and something else and I wondered
>> if they really worked.
>>
>
>It could have some utility. It won't turn pine into
>hardwood. It can give you a more scratch resistant surface,
>but bang the surface or gouge it and it will still dent and
>gouge like pine.
>
>
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Larry Jaques <jake@di\/ersify.com> wrote:
> I'm curious, too. When you add up the costs:
>
> 1) stain (to make pine look like a hardwood, which it won't)
> and
> 2) hardener (to make pine act like hardwood, which it doesn't)
> and
> 3) supplies (brushes, solvents, shop or paper towels, etc.)
> plus
> 4) your time to do all of the above,
>
> you end up spending a hell of a lot more of your precious time
> and equal or MORE money for softwood than it would have cost to
> purchase the hardwood you were trying to emulate.
>
> My question is simple: Why do it?
>
>
Good question.
A big problem with topical hardeners is that they can only
harden the material that they are used on as deeply as they
can penetrate. Pine, by it's nature seems like it would be
hard to get some magic coating to penetrate much below the
surface.
Best case, what he would end up with (assuming the stuff
worked at all) would be something like a pealed hard boiled
egg vs an un pealed hardboiled egg. The shell of a hard
boiled egg is quite hard, but it is poorly supported so it's
easy to damage. Neither version of a hard boiled egg would
make a good bearing :)
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George wrote:
> From what I'm gathering from people, the answer is "don't bother". I
> was just just curious because I was at the hardware store the other
> day and they had a Minwax hardener and something else and I wondered
> if they really worked.
>
It could have some utility. It won't turn pine into
hardwood. It can give you a more scratch resistant surface,
but bang the surface or gouge it and it will still dent and
gouge like pine.
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http://www.newsfeeds.com - The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World!
-----== Over 100,000 Newsgroups - 19 Different Servers! =-----
On Sun, 12 Oct 2003 12:27:06 GMT, George <[email protected]>
pixelated:
>From what I'm gathering from people, the answer is "don't bother". I
>was just just curious because I was at the hardware store the other
>day and they had a Minwax hardener and something else and I wondered
>if they really worked.
Minwhacked has an extraordinary marketing genius (plus tons
of greenbacks) working for them. Ditto Searz, Thompson's,
Dell, etc. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
On Sat, 11 Oct 2003 12:12:16 GMT, George <[email protected]> wrote:
>I'm curious, do any of the pine wood hardeners, or wood hardeners in
>general, work? Pine is cheap these days relative to other woods and
>I'm wondering if there's a way to harden the wood such that it doesn't
>get scratched/nicked/dented as easily. I'm just wanting to make the
>surface stronger. The finishes I like to use are either stain
>(typically a Minwax color) or some paint, if required.
Many finishes will harden soft wood, especially the penetrating oil
finishes. But, I have found poplar to be less expensive than pine if
you avoid Home Depot.
From what I'm gathering from people, the answer is "don't bother". I
was just just curious because I was at the hardware store the other
day and they had a Minwax hardener and something else and I wondered
if they really worked.
On Sat, 11 Oct 2003 20:44:37 -0700, Rico <[email protected]> wrote:
>Larry Jaques <jake@di\/ersify.com> wrote:
>> I'm curious, too. When you add up the costs:
>>
>> 1) stain (to make pine look like a hardwood, which it won't)
>> and
>> 2) hardener (to make pine act like hardwood, which it doesn't)
>> and
>> 3) supplies (brushes, solvents, shop or paper towels, etc.)
>> plus
>> 4) your time to do all of the above,
>>
>> you end up spending a hell of a lot more of your precious time
>> and equal or MORE money for softwood than it would have cost to
>> purchase the hardwood you were trying to emulate.
>>
>> My question is simple: Why do it?
>>
>>
>
>Good question.
>
>A big problem with topical hardeners is that they can only
>harden the material that they are used on as deeply as they
>can penetrate. Pine, by it's nature seems like it would be
>hard to get some magic coating to penetrate much below the
>surface.
>
>Best case, what he would end up with (assuming the stuff
>worked at all) would be something like a pealed hard boiled
>egg vs an un pealed hardboiled egg. The shell of a hard
>boiled egg is quite hard, but it is poorly supported so it's
>easy to damage. Neither version of a hard boiled egg would
>make a good bearing :)
>
>
>
>-----= Posted via Newsfeeds.Com, Uncensored Usenet News =-----
>http://www.newsfeeds.com - The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World!
>-----== Over 100,000 Newsgroups - 19 Different Servers! =-----
>From what I'm gathering from people, the answer is "don't bother". I
>was just just curious because I was at the hardware store the other
>day and they had a Minwax hardener and something else and I wondered
>if they really worked.
>
the hardener works to a limited depth. it is a good thing to use when
restoring damaged wood before filling with putty.
bob