building pine equip rack, stain?

nadams
nadams Posts: 5,877
edited February 2024 in Clubhouse Archives
Guys,
I'm building an equipment rack out of pine, and was just wondering if it would be good to stain it or not. I like the natural look to pine, but would the stain protect it more from scratches? If I'm going to stain it, it will have to be before putting it together. Also, is pine too soft for equipment to sit on? Will the screws bite into it good or not?

nadams
Ludicrous gibs!
Post edited by RyanC_Masimo on
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  • Frank Z
    Frank Z Posts: 5,860
    edited November 2003
    The pine is way to soft, even with a high quality urethane finish or hardener. Try poplar, low cost compared to other hardwoods, and it finishes nicely.

    If you do use pine, make sure you use a sanding sealer prior to staining. It will prevent a blotchy finish.
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  • brettw22
    brettw22 Posts: 7,623
    edited November 2003
    ROFLMAO........sorry nadams........even just the THOUGHT that stain would protect from scratches stuck me as funny.....

    Pine is a good bedroom furniture type of wood, but past that, it's too tempremental (unless you like the whethered look). With it being an audio rack, the same spots would be getting mauled over and over and it'd eventually just end up looking like ****........
    comment comment comment comment. bitchy.
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,753
    edited November 2003
    Pine would not be my choice, but since you like the natural look if you use a clear oil finish you can always touch it up by applying a fresh coat of oil when it gets a little scruffy. There is no stain that will protect any wood, that is the job of a finishing product. About the only thing that would be close to bullet-proof on pine would be a conversion varnish, but that would have to sprayed on by a pro. The big problem with most pine is that the wood is soft and therefore dents easily. Heart pine is probably the hardest of the pines, but costs more. A good choice since you seem to want a light color would be rock maple, it's pretty hard stuff.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

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  • nadams
    nadams Posts: 5,877
    edited November 2003
    well, just goes to show how much I know about wood. Er, pine.

    Since we already have the pine, we're just going to slap it together quick, and if it doesn't work, we'll get something different. It's not going to be overly hard to put together...
    Ludicrous gibs!
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  • phoneisbusy
    phoneisbusy Posts: 867
    edited November 2003
    Good suggestions by F1nut. Only other protective finish that I could think of is that transparent arcylic resin they use to embed coins and dollar bills in bar counters. Of course you might has well just use formica with a pine pattern at that point. ;)

    Pine takes screws and glue fine so you shouldn't have any trouble working with it in that regard.

    Good luck and have fun with the project.

    Dave
    Time is the best teacher. Unfortunately it kills all its students.
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  • nadams
    nadams Posts: 5,877
    edited November 2003
    Originally posted by brettw22
    ROFLMAO........sorry nadams........even just the THOUGHT that stain would protect from scratches stuck me as funny.....


    I didn't mean that it would prevent the scratches, I meant that it might be able to hide them a little. I realise that that's not what I said in the original post, so it's no misinterpretation on your part. I merely misspoke because I was tired....
    Ludicrous gibs!
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  • burdette
    burdette Posts: 1,194
    edited November 2003
    Because you said you already have the wood and are already building it, I'm not going to slam your choice of wood.

    Pine doesn't stain that well.. it takes the stain VERY inconsistently and tends to really exaggerate the grain pattern... and the grain patterns aren't that nifty anyway.

    A more "paint-like" stain may give you a more consistent finish, but that doesn't give you the natural look.

    One idea is to paint it. I made a CD/DVD shelf out of pine boards. It is about 6.5ft tall, 3ft wide, 6" deep. I primed it and put several coats of black spray paint on it, finished it off with a spray poly, and it looks great. Has held up VERY well to DVDs and CDs being pulled in and out, even by my kids.

    If you want the natural look, go for several coats of poly for protection... or an oil if you are afraid of scratches and you want to be able to fix them. Unless you're going to be changing out gear over and over, I can't imagine why you'd have a problem with 'wear'.

    Pine will take screws and will glue-up very well. Use dados for the shelves if you have the technology at hand. Short of that, a back, or at least a partial back, will add stability.

    I guess I don't have the overall negative view of your plans as seems to have been expressed by others.

    Next time, plywood, finished with veneer tape or hardwood edges, will provide strength, ease of workability, it's cheaper than solid hardwood, won't warp, and you can use real stain with good effect.
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,753
    edited November 2003
    Actually, the best stain to use on pine is a gel stain because it doesn't go "into" the wood and therefore avoids the problem of splotching. That and a glaze will go along way to making pine look good. However, since you want the natural look, go with the oil finish. Poly has a hard time sticking to a high resin wood (pine)and itself, is next impossible to repair.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

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  • wlrandall
    wlrandall Posts: 440
    edited November 2003
    I've avoided problems staining pine and other soft woods by using the Minwax pre-stain conditioner. Makes a much more consistent finish as well. Recommend Minwax stain too, but whatever you use avoid the water based. Just my .02.
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,753
    edited November 2003
    There is nothing wrong with water-based dyes, the ones I use are called aniline dyes. It's a powder that you mix with hot water, let cool and strain. It's a traditional dye used by our forefathers. To prep the wood you wet it, let dry and scuff sand to remove the raised grain. next apply the dye, let dry for 24hrs. and then you're ready for finishing. The results from using a dye (water or solvent based) are so much better the using pigmented stains (like Minwax) that it's not even close.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

    President of Club Polk

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  • madmax
    madmax Posts: 12,434
    edited November 2003
    F1Nut,
    It seems to me you are really into this stuff. Next summer I plan on making some speaker boxes. I look forward to your input. Are you into this business or is it an on-going hobby? (not that it really matters, just wondering)
    madmax
    Vinyl, the final frontier...

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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,753
    edited November 2003
    MM,

    It's my business, period antique furniture restoration. I'd be glad to assist you any way I can.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

    President of Club Polk

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  • kelley
    kelley Posts: 287
    edited November 2003
    I went with Polyshades purchased at Walmart for my tv/audio stand. I actually modified a storage stand we had bought to use for the tv as I liked the Bello stands but couldn't get myself to fork over that kind of money. I have a 36" Wega so I did add a little unseen structure with some old 2x4's. In the last week I had to widen the top since I went with 2 CS400's and was able to get some pretty nice grained pine from Home Depot in 10" widths for about $2 a foot. The Polyshades makes a very durable coat as I originally purchased it to stain some wood transitions from tile at the front door to the rest of the house. It gets walked on everyday with dirty shoes and still looks new. Of course, if you slide your stereo equipment around you will probably scratch just about anything.
    SDS-400, SDA-1B, SVS 20-39pc+, B&K Ref 50, Denon 2900
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