I would like to finish a 2" piece (slab) of pine that i have left over from milling boards for my basement and need some help with what to use.
Do you just polyurethane it or is there something better to use?
The rest of the wood in the basement is natural, no finish applied.
Any help would be appreciated.
Poly will hold up well, but I hate the stuff. It dries SLOOOWWW, and even in satin looks like plastic. Wood should not look like plastic.
The other reason to avoid poly is if it gets damaged, there really isn't a good fix, other than redoing the entire piece. With laquer you can spot touch up.
The following are my recomendations,
I use laquer. Catalized laquer, probably nothing you can buy. But I have used the nitrocelulose laquer that is in home depot sometimes. Sprays incredible, flows like there is no tomorrow, and is a nice dull sheen. Looks almost like it was waxxed.
Now if you can't spray, DEFT makes a great brushable laquer that is available in most any hardware store. Drys in minutes. Brush it on, 15 to 20 minutes later , sand, apply another coat. Rub out the top coat with 0000 steel wool, and its as smooth as your babies bottom:jawdrop:
Clear shellac is another great choice. Drys fast. Smells incredibly bad. But, even with all the modern sealers out there, shellac is still the best sealer (beleived by many including myself) to minimize wood movement.
Tung oil can be rubbed on by hand, very nice sheen, buffs to a nice smooth finish.
Wax, DON'T DO IT!! Unless you like the look of water marks on your furniture.
Before I started working for myself building furniture, I was a furniture refinisher for a number of years.