Choosing the right stain for my ply and pine wood furniture was a rather long process. It was very tricky trying to work out what colour and type of stain to buy over the internet as all the shops were closed due to COVID-19. After discussing the colour choices with my lecturers and getting a few kindly samples from Lillydale Paints I was able to purchase a stain that was not too dark or light, showed Some of the grain and still kept a warm tone.
My lecturer also suggested that I experiment with some shoe polish and linseed oil. I tested these materials with and without the stain and found that if I stained the wood cut into it and filled the gaps with dark paint or shoe polished it looked like a worn table. However, after staining all my furniture I liked the way the stain looked without the harsh scratchings and decided to wait and see how the workbench looked under lighting and through camera before altering it more.
PVA was the perfect strong clear glue to bind my pieces of wood together. The fireplace was a bit tricky to work out I wanted it to be different to the rest of my furniture and not look like wood. I found that ebony rub and buff was a good solution to this problem and it will contrast nicely with the fire and it allows the bookshelves to shine.
