Finishing rough sawn pine

[Guest]

I am looking to recreate this finish on some rough sawn pine I have. 
 

I think I will need to use a belt sander as my drum sander will probably take off too much as the pine isn't a perfect thickness.  From there, would I use a sanding sealer (maybe dewaxed shellac) then special walnut Minwax?  I will spray with a water-based clear coat.

Thanks for your thoughts,
Chris

[museumguy]

For your project, do you see both sides ? You say that your pine is all of a different thickness. Can you plane or sand it to the same thickness, taking it off one face ? Then, you could turn it over for a skim cut on the finished face. As long as not too much material is removed from the non face side, you should be ok.

[Guest]

Indicating the application certainly would have been helpful, this is for a desktop that will be attached to a set of metal legs for a sit to stand desk.  

I guess I don't see why I couldn't plane one side flat.

When I say it is different thickness, it probably varies up to 1/4" as it came off a 100 year old plus circular sawmill.  These timbers started at 20 feet long.  

Chris

[museumguy]

Wow, 1/4" difference is a lot to plane of 1 side. Ok, here's another thought. What if you did a top with breadboard ends. The "field" if you will wouldn't have to be all the same thickness. It would be time consuming but start with the thickest pieces and run them all through the sander, just taking a skim pass. Once that is done on a board, set it aside. Assemble the field with the thickest boards on the outside edges. Put a breadboard end on it and no one will know that the field is of varying thickness.

[KyleD]

If you run the boards through the surface sander they will most likely not be good for this look. You will end up with areas that are smooth and areas that still have too much ripple.

I'm not much of a hand tool guy but this project screams for the use of them. I would sort and glue the boards up just the way they are now with the top surface level as possible. Use dowels or splines or tenons to assist in keeping the boards level to each other. Then use a hand plane and scraper to knock the top surface down to where it looks right to you. It won't be perfectly level but then the look you are going for shouldn't call for it either. Then you can run the back surface through the sander to get the board approximately the same thickness. This will take many passes but you can use a hand plane or belt sander to start the leveling process to save some passes. Or just get it close with the hand tools and forget the surface sander. Pine with it's pitch and surface sanders do not play well together.

Stain and partially finish the table and then use glaze and more finish to get the look you are looking for. 

BTW, the user will have to use a glass or other surface on top the table if they will be doing any handwriting on it.

[TangoTwo]

If you run the boards through the surface sander they will most likely not be good for this look. You will end up with areas that are smooth and areas that still have too much ripple.


BTW, the user will have to use a glass or other surface on top the table if they will be doing any handwriting on it.

OP may have a hard time writing on that surface but, the pencil sure won't roll off the desk! I think planning one side is worth an attempt. Twist in individual boards would be a concern.

Ken

[Guest]

I do have a 12" wide jointer and the boards aren't really twisted, maybe I should try a light pass over the jointer and see what happens to a piece of scrap.  I do have a collection of hand planes which is an option too.  I was going to use my Festool domino to edge glue the boards together, I was not going to joint the edges since I wanted there to be a little gap between the boards to make it look a little more rustic.


The table is for me and I am aware I will need a blotter to write on!


Chris

[KyleD]

You could joint each board to get the look you are looking for if the scrap you run shows it is possible. Glue the boards together and then blend the glue joints with a hand scraper.

[DickA]

I have used a random orbit sander to "smooth" out the boards. I think I used 80 grit discs.

[Guest]

Well the jointer was a massive fail.

First pass, obviously I took way too much off:



This looks almost perfect.



Since the board is slightly cupped, here was the result on the other side.



Looks like a 80 grit in a ROS maybe the best way so it follows the contours of the wood.  I think I may glue the top up then hit it with a ROS.  Thoughts?

Chris