I hate woodworking! Kitchen table for my camper.

[hawgrider]

Original mush board camper table is toast so being I'm a cheap ass and I hate woodworking I cheaped out and went with 3/4 birch veneer plywood. Had to buy a router so I bought a Ryobi 18V router and some roundover bits.

I cut this bitch to size had to make score cuts on the ****ing veneer first to keep from tear out issues then cut all the way through. Hit the bitch with the router and this is what I have now.

Sooooo I need to figure out what I'm going to seal this thing with.

I'm thinking a couple coats of polyurethane for a nice high gloss thick seal.

What say you? And what is my best option to apply it?

[LivoniaDan]

Let me preface this by saying
I AM NOT A WOODWORKER EITHER.

The small projects I have done with Poly, I used a Foam Brush.
Turned out well.

Have done a couple of floors with Floor poly and used a short nap roller....
Turned out well
Gotta make sure you remove any loose nap/fibers though.
If you are going to stain first, they make a "sanding sealer" to use before staining.
It evens out out the color extremes in the grain.

Looks pretty darn good

[Slippy]

Excellent hawg! My suggestion is to find some real good pics of the family or of events and place them on the table top, cut some strips and create an edge to hold some some thick Epoxy Bar Top polyurethane and create a conversation piece!

Original mush board camper table is toast so being I'm a cheap ass and I hate woodworking I cheaped out and went with 3/4 birch veneer plywood. Had to buy a router so I bought a Ryobi 18V router and some roundover bits.

I cut this bitch to size had to make score cuts on the ****ing veneer first to keep from tear out issues then cut all the way through. Hit the bitch with the router and this is what I have now.

Sooooo I need to figure out what I'm going to seal this thing with.

I'm thinking a couple coats of polyurethane for a nice high gloss thick seal.

What say you? And what is my best option to apply it?

[hawgrider]

Let me preface this by saying
I AM NOT A WOODWORKER EITHER.

The small projects I have done with Poly, I used a Foam Brush.
Turned out well.

Have done a couple of floors with Floor poly and used a short nap roller....
Turned out well
Gotta make sure you remove any loose nap/fibers though.
If you are going to stain first, they make a "sanding sealer" to use before staining.
It evens out out the color extremes in the grain.

Looks pretty darn good

I probably will do a stain first. What color? Not sure I need Ideas on that too.

I have heard a foam brush for polyurethane before. Is this to much area to cover though? Just buy the widest foam brush I can get? Ugg! I hate wood lol!

[hawgrider]

Excellent hawg! My suggestion is to find some real good pics of the family or of events and place them on the table top, cut some strips and create an edge to hold some some thick Epoxy Bar Top polyurethane and create a conversation piece!

Well shit... thanks Slippy you just doubled the work and risk of failure for the non carpenter non crafty schmuck that I am hahaha.

[Sasquatch]

Should've just went with butcher block. Probably a little too pricey though.

If it's just for the camper don't put too much thought into it. For both stain and poly I use the cheap brushes at Home Depot. If you're worried they might leave hairs you'll want to buy a nicer brush or go with the foam.

As far as stain color just try to match it to whatever else is in the camper.

[hawgrider]

Should've just went with butcher block. Probably a little too pricey though.

If it's just for the camper don't put too much thought into it. For both stain and poly I use the cheap brushes at Home Depot. If you're worried they might leave hairs you'll want to buy a nicer brush or go with the foam.

As far as stain color just try to match it to whatever else is in the camper.

Yup butcher block would be nice but Im on a retired budget.

So you use a brush instead of foam.

You agree with using polyurethane?

Here is the original table color and camper colors

[Sasquatch]

Yup butcher block would be nice but Im on a retired budget.

So you use a brush instead of foam.

You agree with using polyurethane?

Here is the original table color and camper colors

Sorry, should've been more clear. For a stain I usually use a cheap brush. Only a nice brush if its a really nice project.

The poly would be fine I think. Or grab you some go ol' Thompson deck sealer. It should keep rings from drinks or any spills from soaking in. I mean it just depends on how detailed you want to get.

I think any light brown would fit in.

My only other suggestion would be to sand the shit out of it. Use 3 different grits, maybe 80, 120 and then hit it with a 1500 fine.

[hawgrider]

Sorry, should've been more clear. For a stain I usually use a cheap brush. Only a nice brush if its a really nice project.

The poly would be fine I think. Or grab you some go ol' Thompson deck sealer. It should keep rings from drinks or any spills from soaking in. I mean it just depends on how detailed you want to get.

I think any light brown would fit in.

My only other suggestion would be to sand the shit out of it. Use 3 different grits, maybe 80, 120 and then hit it with a 1500 fine.

I've used a lot of Thompsons water seal. It really doesnt have that high gloss to it.

[Inor]

Sand the edges with 150 grit but do not go anywhere near the veneer with 150. It is very thin and you will go right through it. Then sand the whole thing (including veneer) with 220. Do not go finer than that as it will close up the pours in the wood.

If you insist on staining it, you will need to put a coat of sanding sealer on it first. Birch gets really blotchy if you try to stain it without a sanding sealer. Personally, I would either just go with straight varnish or if you want to bring out the grain a bit, you could do a coat of boiled linseed oil first.

Then, use a wipe on varnish. Trust me on this. The old school paint-on varnish sucks to work with and trying to do a flat surface without leaving brush marks is tough. This is my secret weapon for finishing:

https://www.wwhardware.com/general-f...fault_products

You put it on with just a clean rag - no brush at all. An old tee-shirt works best. Wipe on two heavy coats letting them get completely dry. After the second coat dries completely, sand the whole thing with 320 grit, then do two more lighter coats. Don't let it scare you. It will look like absolute shit until you do the 4th coat; then it will look amazing.

You can be done after the 4th coat, but if you really want it to look like you can put your hand right through it, sand it again with 400 and do one or two more light coats.

This stuff works great because putting it on with a rag instead of a brush, you do not get drips or run marks. The downside is you do have to do at least 4 coats. With traditional brush-on varnish, you can usually get by with 2 coats (plus fixing all the damn mistakes and touching them up).