Finish recommendation for SYP kitchen shelving

[Ken Strohm]

Hey all,

New to the forum and woodworking in general. I'm in the middle of a kitchen renovation and both my wife and I like the look of open shelving, as seen here:


I picked up some reclaimed Southern Yellow Pine from the local salvage yard for this project. It is rough sawn with a great patina. I was told they were used as floor joists in an old NYC building.

We love the weathered look and would prefer to keep as much of it as possible, but from a practical standpoint the tops of these shelves must be finished somehow. Anything left exposed in a kitchen has a tendency to collect dust and grime, and trying to clean these boards would be a nightmare.

To that end, I took them to a local woodshop and planed one side, as seen here: Does anyone have a recommendation for finishing these bad boys? I'm looking for a finish that will protect the wood from water, and will be easy to wipe clean with a dust rag or sponge. I searched the forums a bunch and couldn't dig up any solid answers.

Thanks!
Ken

[John TenEyck]

I would strongly consider General Finishes EnduroVar or Enduro Clear Poly. Both are very hard and chemically durable. The EnduroVar will give the wood a slightly amber look, like traditional varnish. Enduro Clear Poly is water clear, although you could put a coat of dewaxed shellac like SealCoat on it first to give it a slight amber hue if you prefer that look. Both can be applied by spray or brush. (Enduro Clear Poly says you can only spray it but I've had no trouble brushing it on with a foam brush.) Both are low odor and fast drying.

https://generalfinishes.com/professional-products/water-base-topcoats-and-sanding-sealers

John

[Ken Strohm]

Thanks for the rec, John! Of those two options I'd probably choose the Enduro Clear Poly since I'm not looking for an amber hue.

I'd REALLY like to match the color of the patina which will be seen on the face and underside of the shelves. It's a brownish/gray. Would you suggest using a dye or stain to get there? If so, a suggested finish schedule would be greatly appreciated. I've seen people on here suggest using a shellac as a seal coat to even out the absorption of following applications - especially on softwoods like pine. But this is really old (100+ y.o.) reclaimed SYP, and I've been told it's very hard - the hardest of softwood species. Would that mean a seal coat wouldn't be necessary? All of this is extremely overwhelming!

PS: I also plan on making a coffee table from the same wood.

[John TenEyck]

My advise is to finish it without dying or staining it. If you want it to be all the same then joint the show edge and get the other side planed, too. Pine is a bear to stain evenly, and dye can be just as bad unless you can spray it. It'll mellow in a few years anyway. I would just put a clear finish on it and let it age on it's own.

When you make the coffee table, that's a good time to consider not planing the wood and using it as it is. No worries about recreating how it looks.

John

[Jim Becker]

Other than, perhaps, oiling it for color richness, you'll want to get a good, washable finish on it that can handle de-greasers. Trust me on this! There's no stain that's going to give you that color...the only way would be to letting it weather in the sun for a couple years which I suspect isn't in line with your project timetable. You'll also want to consider filling any holes with tinted epoxy before finishing to avoid grease and dust from collecting in those hard to clean areas as well as removing any roughness which will impede cleaning after the fact. If you're careful with your sanding, you'll be able to retain that patina while smoothing things out as appropriate for the use.

While the sample picture looks great, from a practical standpoint, what's show may very well be a cleaning nightmare.

[Ken Strohm]

Yeah, I guess I could rent a cordless sprayer from the local borg and spray a dye to try to match the patina, but that seems like more trouble than it's worth considering the tops of the shelves will hardly be seen.

Thanks for the replies, fellas. I'll pick up some epoxy to fill the holes and GF Enduro Clear Poly for the top coat. I agree, Jim, once these shelves are up it'll be our responsibility to keep them clean and I'd like to make that as easy a process as possible.

Would you suggest I rent that sprayer anyway to facilitate the poly application? If I get a flat or satin I could cover a whole shelf, not just the top, pretty easily and it would still retain it's character (without looking plastic-y).

[Jim Becker]

Spraying an oil based finish is a "not fun" thing...the overspray is sticky and stays that way for awhile. IMHO. There is also the health and other dangers with spraying a flammable substance. Spraying works best for finishes that dry/cure quickly...shellac, lacquer, acrylics (water borne finishes), etc. That said, if you want to spray, go ahead and do that. Be sure to tarp off the area well, have full ventilation (outside is best, honestly, but the temps are not conducive to oil based finishes at this time of year), wear a respirator and eye protection and be sure you have on-hand before you start what you need to clean out that sprayer properly. Me...if I were going to use an oil based finish, I'd be brushing/wiping it on.

[Ken Strohm]

Cool, thanks again for your input Jim!

I went ahead and purchased some GF Enduro Water Based Sanding Sealer and High Performance Water Based Top Coat in satin. I plan on hitting the shelves on all sides with an orbital sander, 80 grit on the bottom and sides (carefully, so I don't remove the saw marks, etc.), 180-220 grit on the top. I'll follow up with a couple coats of SS with light sanding in between, and then finish with the top coat - gonna spray it all on. I'll be working on the shelves this weekend, will report back.

[John TenEyck]

If it's not too late, I would switch from HP Poly to Enduro Clear Poly. They both spray great and look the same, but the Enduro Clear Poly is far more chemically durable than HP Poly. It's KCMA rated, HP Poly is not. In a kitchen, that's important. Also, you can likely spray Enduro Clear Poly w/o thinnng. HP Poly has a much higher viscosity and I have to thin it to get it to spray well. Small point, but still.

John

[Jim Becker]

Just be aware that in general, most of the water borne finishes do not impart any of the warm amber effect that oil based finishes do. You really, really, REALLY need to do some test finishing on scrap of the same material (or at least similar material) to what your actual project uses, before you commit to a finishing regimen. You may want/need to add a little dye to color adjust the water borne product so it looks warmer, for example. Work it out on scrap first...and doubly so for this material because it will be darn hard to strip and start over with that stuff.