Painting an unfinished stand

[nengland]

I got a heck of a deal on a new stand with the only catch being that it's unfinished. (Ok, maybe more a bonus than a catch since that means I get to pick the colour)

Do I need to be wary of what type of paint I use to finish it?

If it matters, the stand is pine and the paint will be a dark smoke grey (bordering on black).

Thanks for the help.

 

[Tat2demon]

Any Ployuerathane paint will work. Actually any kind will work but poly is tougher and will last longer.

 

[nengland]

Ok, cool. It's nice when things are simple in this hobby.

 

[jcraft]

well there's a simple way and a not so simple way.

The simple, uncomplicated way would be to use a pigment stain on the wood and then put a coat of polyurethane on top. This is the top choice of the vast majority of people who have built stands. The stains are readily available and easy to apply. The only thing I would suggest is for you to stay away from the gel stains- the results of the oil based stains are much better.


The more complicated, but still very doable option is to use dyes. This is the method that I used when I built my stand, and I really liked the way it came out. I used an Analine dye (a powder that you mix with hot water or oil) to stain the wood to the desired color- the good thing aboout dyes is that it lets the natural grain of the wood show through, whereas a stain usually will obscure all or at least most of the grain pattern. After achieving the desired color, I then put a couple coats of High Gloss Tung oil. (Now regardless of the method you choose, you will want to put a couple coats of polyurethane on the stand- this gives the finish excellent water resistance) The third step I used was to put a couple coats of Shellac on it. This served two purposes. One: It, when used in conjuction with an analine dye and tung oil or linseed oil will, to a degree, give the wood grain a 3 dimensional look. Two: Shellac acts as a natural sealer that can then be coated over by the polyurethane. Otherwise, the tung oil would not mix with the poly.

Hope that helps out a bit- do a search on some woodworking forums and get some ideas. If I were to do it all over again, I wouldn't have changed a thing.

 

[CoolUsername]

So to be clear your steps are:

1) Analine Dye
2) High gloss Tung Oil
3) Shellac
4) Sevaral Coats of Polyurethane paint.

Is this correct?

Thanks

 

[Stipe]

I never use paint, Mine is always coated with external stain andvarnish. I use a stained varnish, 2-3 coats (dependng how dark i go, but you must always have two coats for the gloss shine) then finish with a clear cover/protection varnish.

 

[pmike25]

Stain is the way to go IMO this is my stand and canopy I built

The steps I used was
1- wood conditioner
2- 2 coats of red sadona stain.
3- 3 coats of urethaine sealer, sanded with 220 grit inbetweeen coats
4- VERY IMPORTANT is make sure you sand the heck out of it with a course grit 1st slowly ending with a very fine grit, that serves a couple reasone, 1 make it really smooth and 2 brings out the wood grain a heck of alot better. Hope this helps

 

[nengland]

Hey Pmike

That's a beautiful stand! I'm in total awe. Unfortunately I'm not so handy with carpentry and had mine built... to a price... Maybe if it were something other than pine I'd consider staining it, but as is I'd rather just cover it and go for the modern look. (I'm young, so that'd probably match my stuff better anyway)

But still, that's a beautiful stand. You should be, and must be proud.

 

[pmike25]

Thanks man, I appericaite the comments. Good luck with your stand and post some pics when you get it done

 

[jcraft]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7763533#post7763533 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by CoolUsername
So to be clear your steps are:

1) Analine Dye
2) High gloss Tung Oil
3) Shellac
4) Sevaral Coats of Polyurethane paint.

Is this correct?

Thanks

thats correct. I think it ended up being 3 coats of the dye, 3 coats of the Tung oil, 2 coats of shellac and then 3 coats of poly. Needless to say, if time is an issue, this may not be the route you want to take. It ended up taking about 8 days for the whole process.

OP: if you want to paint it and give it a modern look, how about using Krylon "Make It Stone" textured paint? I've seen many great looking stands using the "Mediterranean Reef" color.