color finish for pine

[Tim Sherwood]

I'll be making kitchen cabinets for a log cabin in the mountains. The doors and drawer fronts will be pine . We're aiming for a finish color of light to medium brown instead of the natural yellow or pumpkin of pine. I would like to avoid hand wiped stains, if I can.
I'm hoping that a spray on finish can leave the grain exposed but tone down the pine. Would a beige shellac work for that?
What would you suggest?

 

[chris_goris]

I would suggest experimenting with shellac and dyes. Layer on the color you want.

 

[Rwe2156]

Keep in mind the pine will naturally darken, so a clear finish would be OK, maybe not get as dark as you want, and initially you might not like it.

I've gotten good results with tinted shellac. It works like a dye - additional coats will darken. You'll need to top coat with something. Lacquer would look good.

 

[Dee2]

Maybe talk to the folks at Target Coatings?

 

[Graywolf]

I would experiment with some gel stain to get the color and tone you are wanting. you can use tinted shellac and or a little of both. Then for top coat you can use lacquer. Most manufacturers use a mixture of dyes, stains, and tinted topcoats to achieve the colors they are looking for. One experiment I would try is to pick a shade of brown dye and try varying intensities until you are pleased. Then try a shade of gel stain and do the same until you are satisfied with your choices. Just remember to write down what you have done so you can duplicate the process.

 

[Tim Sherwood]

I certainly will experiment with several approaches. I want to avoid the hand work of gel or oil stains if I can. I'd like to experiment with dye stains mixed into shellac or water borne poly. But before I pop for expensive trans tint, I'd like to see if someone has all ready found one they would recommend on pine. Buying their full range kit and hoping to get lucky doesn't appeal to me.

 

[chris_goris]

I certainly will experiment with several approaches. I want to avoid the hand work of gel or oil stains if I can. I'd like to experiment with dye stains mixed into shellac or water borne poly. But before I pop for expensive trans tint, I'd like to see if someone has all ready found one they would recommend on pine. Buying their full range kit and hoping to get lucky doesn't appeal to me.

I would buy one dark dye, like a walnut and experiment with it, a little bit goes a long ways. I would buy the liquid over the powder because I think its easier to measure drops, from a dropper than small amounts of powder (I still havent figured out a good method for that, so if anyone has one, please speak up). I would add one seal coat of clear shellac first, this will alleviate pine blotches and ensure uniformity, then layer on the tinted shellac until the desired color is reached. Then topcoat with a good WB Poly like GF HiPerf or a WB Lacquer. I prefer the GF poly myself.

 

[Willemjm]

I'll be making kitchen cabinets for a log cabin in the mountains. The doors and drawer fronts will be pine . We're aiming for a finish color of light to medium brown instead of the natural yellow or pumpkin of pine. I would like to avoid hand wiped stains, if I can.
I'm hoping that a spray on finish can leave the grain exposed but tone down the pine. Would a beige shellac work for that?
What would you suggest?

Tim, I use Transtint for that.
First spray a clear coat of Precat SW T77 F 57. Scuff sand with a medium 3m sanding block. This is fast, you just want to knock down the fibers.
Then use a coat of T77 thinned 70% with the dye in it. This takes a bit of practice as where your coats overlap too much, you will get darker areas. Then follow with a final coat of T77 not reduced.

Our vendors follow the same process, except they do only a clear coat followed by the final tinted coat not thinned. They use automatic paint lines though, with a one pass uniform coating, which is really hard to achieve with a hand held spray gun.

 

[Tim Sherwood]

Chris I like your approach. Sealcoat and GF HI performance are my go-to finishes. It's always good to have someone confirm your own prejudices.
Willem, is there a particular transtint color you like for taking pine to brown? I don't usually spray any solvent based finish, since I would have to take it outside. I'm comfortable spraying shellac or water based in my partially vented basement.

 

[Willemjm]

Chris I like your approach. Sealcoat and GF HI performance are my go-to finishes. It's always good to have someone confirm your own prejudices.
Willem, is there a particular transtint color you like for taking pine to brown? I don't usually spray any solvent based finish, since I would have to take it outside. I'm comfortable spraying shellac or water based in my partially vented basement.

Can't help you with the color. I have a whole range and normally have to match a floor or cabinet color, so we mix different colors together until we have a match.

 

[Tim Sherwood]

Thanks Willem. Fortunately I don't have to match anything particular.