beetle kill pine finishing.

[Adam Herman]

I am wrapping a post and beam in Colorado beetle kill AKA blue stain pine, mostly ponderosa and lodgepole pine.

I have made up my 20 foot x 9.5 inch boards from 1x and will be rabbiting a bottom cap on both sides and applying this with a few finish nails and glue. I want to be able to touch up the finish in place after filling a few nail holes and possibly trimming the edges of the bottom cap. The material is extremely dry and we don't see much movement / moisture here.

I have a test board of waterlox and of oil based poly sitting in the sun right now to see how it will do, what other finishes should i be considering? Our flooring is clear hickory, our island top next to the post and below the beam is wood bowling ally finished in satin waterlox, mostly long leaf pine and hard maple

I am looking to keep the wood from going too much to the yellow side as it does, in the sun while unfinished. Is there anything that would keep it stark white, as it is after i have sanded?

[Jim Becker]

A water borne finish is going to result in the least yellowing effect from the finish. But the pine will naturally gain a bit of amber as it darkens over time. If you need to do oil based, something like Pratt and Lambert #38 which uses a lighter tung oil in its base might be worthy of testing.

[Wayne Lomman]

I agree, waterborne will cause least yellowing. Cheers