Refinishing top of fish tank stand

[Harry Muscle]

I bought a fish tank stand a while ago made up of part real hardwood and part hardwood veneers. It has a "multi-step hand rubbed" (according to the manufacturer) finish. Which doesn't really tell me much :) ... it basically looks like either a opaque stain (if such a thing exists) with a nice and smooth finish on top or a very smooth paint job. You can still see the grain indentations, but not the actual wood.

Unfortunately the finish is holding up very poorly to water. The top is obviously veneer over some sort of particle board and when water sits on it for more then a few minutes it starts to raise the area from swelling. I've had it happen a few times, most of the time it returns back to normal, but two spots stayed swollen. So I figure it's time to refinish (or add on a finish to) the piece to make it more resistant to water damage. I'd like to be able to leave water on it at least 30 minutes or so before I have to worry about damage, preferably even longer since it is a fish tank stand.

The only thing that sort of throws a wrench into things, is that I decided to wax the top a month or two ago (before I decided to refinish it for good). I've started removing the wax with mineral spirits and lots and lots of paper towel. It seems to be removing it quite nicely. However, I also noticed it seems to be pulling up a little bit of the paint/stain and leaving very slight "scratches" in the existing finish (almost like evenly spaced "cracks" that don't touch each other). I actually sort of like the look. But out of curiosity, does this info help any one figure out what kind of finish they might have used on this piece originally?

The plan is that once I'm done removing all the wax, I would apply a layer (or maybe two) of shellac (from a spray can, since I find that so much easier for small one off jobs like this (Zinser -> http://www.homedepot.ca/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CatalogSearchResultView?D=943747&Ntt=943747&catalogId=10051&langId=-15&storeId=10051&Dx=mode+matchallpartial&Ntx=mode+matchall&N=0&Ntk=P_PartNumber )). Then I'm thinking either a few coats of spray polyurethane (Minwax -> http://www.homedepot.ca/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CatalogSearchResultView?D=911376&Ntt=911376&catalogId=10051&langId=-15&storeId=10051&Dx=mode+matchallpartial&Ntx=mode+matchall&N=0&Ntk=P_PartNumber ) or maybe laqcer ... but I'm worried about it's strong solvents since if I don't do a perfect job of sealing the existing paint/stain with the shellac it might ruin the original finish, plus I don't know if lacquer is water resistant enough.

I'm definatley not a pro, but I've done a handful of wood working projects. How does my plan sound? Should I be doing things differently? How many coats of shellac should I go with before applying something more water resistant overtop? Do I need to sand the original paint/stain finish or is what I'm doing good enough to ensure good attachment of the new finish?

Any help or other info you can offer is much appreciated. I'll probably have other specific questions about this, but this is a pretty good start I hope.

Thanks,
Harry

[Scott Holmes]

No finish will completely seal the wood (or particleboard) to protect it from moisture.

I think you will be better off, replacing the particleboard now so you aren't putting lipstick on a pig. Get a quality marine plywood then seal it with shellac and/or then top coat it with a quality non poly varnish that is made with phenolic resin and tung oil. Waterlox Original is the easiest to find.

DO NOT use a marine or spar varnish they are less waterproof and less moisture proof than interior finishes; because they are softer and more flexible. IF the guy at the big box store says it better you gotta ask yourself; does he really know about finishes?

[Harry Muscle]

No finish will completely seal the wood (or particleboard) to protect it from moisture.

I think you will be better off, replacing the particleboard now so you aren't putting lipstick on a pig. Get a quality marine plywood then seal it with shellac and/or then top coat it with a quality non poly varnish that is made with phenolic resin and tung oil. Waterlox Original is the easiest to find.

DO NOT use a marine or spar varnish they are less waterproof and less moisture proof than interior finishes; because they are softer and more flexible. IF the guy at the big box store says it better you gotta ask yourself; does he really know about finishes?

Thanks for the suggestion, however I don't think replacing the top would prove feasable for me, just too much work.

Is there something you could recommend though that would improve the water resistance that doesn't involve replacing the wood?

Would a coat of shellac followed by a few coats of the Waterlox Original be a good choice over the existing wood/finish?

One of my main concerns is the adhesion of the new finish since it was waxed a few months back. Anything I can do to improve things or is what I'm doing sounding fine (using mineral spirits to remove the wax)?

Thanks,
Harry

[Joe Chritz]

Mineral spirits will take the wax off. Use plenty of rags and try not to go over the area more than once with one rag.

A finish of waterlox would help it but you still may get some migration. The faster you clean up the water the better.

The reason for the suggestion to switch to marine plywood is because it won't swell like PB core when it gets some moisture in it.

Joe

[Pete McMahon]

You could always put a piece 1\4 inch of glass on top of the stand. That's as simple as it gets. No fumes either.