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Hello @TrooperJo
Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. It's a pleasure having you join us, and thank you for sharing your question about staining and varnishing your pine table.
It's great to hear that you're giving this project a go. You've made excellent progress so far, if you applied the Monocel Walnut Stain and Varnish neat or undiluted, you'll often get light and dark areas when you apply the stain and varnish. The technique of getting that first coat uniform is to thin the varnish with some turpentine.
Because you've already applied the stain and varnish, it now becomes a little bit trickier as you'll need to sand the surface to remove the patchy parts. The semi-circle parts were caused by the direction of the applicator that was used earlier on. When applying stain and varnish, I recommend going in a single direction only when applying a coat.
The only way to remove the side drips is to sand them down completely. I suggest using 180 grit sandpaper to get back down to the timber. Applying extra coats will not repair or cover the drips. Remember to wipe the drips on your next application.
Let me tag our experienced members @DanaR, @craftyhopper, @lifestylebymari and @prettyliving for their recommendations.
Here is a handy video guide when applying Monocel Stain and Varnish:
If you need further assistance, please let us know.
Eric
Hi @TrooperJo
Some stain and varnish products are like that and they are very thick and sometimes need to be diluted. The product you have is both a stain and varnish, hence you don't need to cover it with varnish again. As for the applicator, I suggest using what you've been using now which is the Decking Oil Applicator. Just keep in mind when applying the stain and varnish to go in one direction only, from top to bottom, don't make turns or changes in direction. When you do the top edge of the table immediately brush the sides so you don't get drip marks.
When you've sanded and evened out the top, do one diluted coat to see where you need to do more sanding. When doing the side edge, I suggest doing one coat first and observing the results. If you're happy with the way it turns out you can put the subsequent coats on to finish it off.
I use a microfibre cloth slightly damp to pick up all the sanding dust.
If you need further assistance, please let us know.
Eric
It would be great if you could share some finished photos with the community @TrooperJo, your table is looking fantastic and I'm sure will inspire others.
Jason
This is the finished dining table.
The blue chairs are our new chairs bought to match the new table and the timber chairs are our old chairs that we will get rid of soon. We are waiting on 4 more of the blue chairs and will pull the table away from the wall when we need to seat 8.
The area needs something on the corner wall to complete it I think. I'm tossing up between doing 2 or 3 of the boxes below or just 2 or 3 shelves, with a small plant, frame, etc on them. It's a small area in our open plan living/dining/kitchen so I don't want it to look cluttered. I'm open to any ideas or suggestions!
Hello @TrooperJo
Thank you so much for the update. That table looks wonderful and you've done very well on the finish. I'm a big fan of plants, I suggest a plant stand in the corner. There are quite a few ways to build them, it can be made as ornate or simple as you want them to be. The best part is that you can have it at the height that you want.
Here are some fantastic plant stand projects our Workshop members have shared.
If you need further assistance, please let us know.
Eric
Hi @TrooperJo
Since there is a little person involved, I'm afraid your only choice is a Flexi Storage Decorative Shelving 250 x 38 x 250mm Oak Floating Shelf or perhaps a Hanging Plant Fixture. This should be safe from curious little hands and climbing little feet. That is until they figure out how to use chairs to climb higher.
If you need further assistance, please let us know.
Eric
