what type of finish?

[mps9506]

I just ordered myself a new stand for my aquarium (I'll be moving in April, figured this would be a good time to upgrade). It will be coming in unfinished. It is made of oak, I want a dark colored finish on it that obviously I'll be doing myself.
I don't know ANYTHING about finishes or paint or anything like that. What do I need to use? I think black paint would look bad, so I guess some type of dark stain followed by clear polyurethane? I'm not sure what is supposed to be used over a stain to protect the wood....
Any color advice would be appreciated also...
TIA, I'm a dunce when it comes to this kind of stuff.

[Gina]

Mike,
I would first get some pieces of scrap wood and experiment with different colors of stain to see what you would like best. Then just apply polyurenthane to protect the finish. I stained a table a couple of years ago it's not hard just tedious (sp).
How do you feel about cherry stain?

[mps9506]

I would love cherry, except I have a black trim on the top part of my tank. The bottom trim is going to be covered, but the top trim isn't

But it is ok to stain the wood and follow up with a polyurethane to finish it?
The stain goes on with a rag and the polyurethane with a brush?

I need to google this and start looking up the info
Why isn't this in the knowledgebase????

[Reef Geek]

I usually use those cheap styrofoam brushes, less mess, for both finish and poly. I think you might like the look of the cherry and black. One of the sexiest stands I ever saw was cherry with black accents. It was hot!!!
Yea, that's right, a stand can be sexy.

[mojoreef]

Mike you want to use something called a pigmented urathane. Basically its a urathane that has been tinted. You can get them tinted to what ever wood look you desire. Thier are also products out thier that come premade like that, minwax has one. When you use it you want to use a oil base long hair brush, so you can feather it in.

Mike

[mps9506]

Cool. Thanks for the info Mike.
I'll be spending some time in Lowe's and Home Depot tomorrow.

I'm going to wait until my stand gets here before I buy anything though. Make sure the quality of the wood is something I want to show off first. If it looks bad I'll probably just sand it smooth and paint it, maybe with one of those granite type finishes like Oceanic used to make their stands with.

[Gina]

It's really alot easier than what you think! If I can do it!
I did invest in a good brush to do it. I wanted it to look the best I could. I'm used to buying those disposable brushes or styrofoam ones so paying out for a good one hurt a little! LOL

Show us your progress!!

[mps9506]

It'll be a few weeks before I get the stand, but I will post pictures once I get started on it.

[mojoreef]

Ahh one more thing Mike, prior to putting the urathane (or stain if you go that route) is to make sure you condition the wood. What this will do is to seal the wood to a point so that the stain/urathane goes on evenly and doesnt have dark and light spots based on grain dencity. This is important, most of the manufactures make it and all have a different name, so discribe the process when looking for the product.


MIke

[mps9506]

Thanks Mike. Never knew that.

[jhnrb]

damp rag, and wipe wood so wood is moist, let dry, sand fine sand paper. do this until wood is smooth after damp rag wipe or max. 3 times. apply stain and have several lint free rags handy so if the stain gets a little dark you can wipe and blend (to taste not a big deal), stain should not be applied to thick (should not be runny) once stain has dried (set up) you can apply a clear polyeurathane. you need to ask the retailer about the eurathane as some dry with a slight yellowing tint. (recommend minwax fast drying polyurethane clear semi-gloss). after each application of the polyurethane and after the application has set up dry, use a wood finishing pad i.e. ACE #1007830 and wipe as if sanding to smooth for next coat. recommend 3 coats minimum. Oh, and by the way watch your temperature you don't want to apply polyurethane if it is too cold. tip. when using polyeurethane make sure you keep stiring it as you use it. I don't have any help for you on the colored eurethane except that you can start with one coat and I believe each successibe coat will darken some what more. ask your distributor. for a dynamite finish sand as mentioned above between coats. hope this helps.

[mps9506]

karma to you