Pine pantry shelves

[Keith Nordyke]

I have just finished a set of pantry shelves to hang on the pantry door to supply my wife with more space. As it is all hand done, I really don't want to take my wife's suggestion and "just paint it white." Too much time chiseling the dovetails for that. She says it has to go with the rest of the kitchen cabinets which are cypress.

I am new to the hobby and I have never really finished any pieces other than a coat of shellac or perhaps urethane if outdoors. My spouse says it needs to be able to have honey spilled and still be able to clean it up.

So:
1. What stain/brand/how? She wants it "darker" than the pine and not as amber as the shellac she is used to seeing around the shop.
2. What coating? Urethane? Type?
3. Do I need some sort of sealant coat prior to staining and if so, what?

I plan to clean it up, plane it in a couple of places, glue it and clamp it. I assume I can stain after glueup as I know I will need to put the block plane to the dovetails after the glue sets. Thanks

Keith

[Steve Schoene]

Pine is hard to stain. I'd go another route if possible. For example, one way would be to use shellac as the colorant, but switch to garnet shellac instead of orange to deal with the color issue. To combat the blotching tendancy I'd make a first coat with a blonde or clear shellac, and then switch to the darker shellac. When I was close to the desired shade, I would switch to a wiping varnish. Waterlox is an excellent one, that would very mildly also contribute to adding some richness to the color. Several coats of Waterlox would certainly give the ability to clean up spilled honey.

[Joe Cunningham]

I'd be tempted to paint it. Joinery is foremost for holding things together. You'll know the quality of the joint, and isn't that the most important part?

Pine is not fun to stain, doesn't always look great with a clear topcoat, and a poor finish will stand out a LOT more than any expressed joinery.

If you decide to stain/finish, you should do some good-sized test panels to make sure it looks good.

I've followed a similar schedule to what Steve is recommending (up to the step about applying the varnish) and on some pine it turned out nice, and others I pulled out the DNA, got rid of most of the shellac and then painted it.

[Ray Schafer]

I am a finishing newbie, but recently had luck with this on Pine for a bed:
Clear (Zinsser) Shellac
Gel Stain
Oil wiping Varnish

I went to the local Rockler store with a cabinet door that I was trying to match, and the Candlelight was the right gel stain for my application. They pulled out some cans and put it on the sample scrap of wood that I brought with me.