mnewsham, thanks for the comments, I had a great holiday in Halifax too - first time on the East Coast.
Howard, I'm aware that there are many different types - no fear, however - I used a wood conditioner for oil-based finishes, and both the gel stain and the minwax stain I used were oil based.
DisgruntledVirus, I would love to have access to a spray booth for this. I think I would have had a fun time, and possibly an easier time spraying the stain. There are a lot of products available to mix your own colours when it comes to spraying from what I understand.
alfa147x, I used a very fine bristle brush to apply the polyurethane. There is some kind of trick to putting it on, however. If you put it on too thin, it dries too fast, and leaves brush streaks. If you put it on too thick, the air bubbles and dust get trapped. So the first thing is - get the brush nice and coated with poly, brush on a good medium coat.
Second, after you've got the poly applied, do final one-way long strokes across the entire length (With the grain I guess). With a steady hand, and proper brush angle, it'll help remove bubbles, and the poly will be pretty smooth behind the brush.
Third - I have been sanding progressively from 400 to 800 grit between each layer of poly (ie. first coat of poly, sand with 400, next coat of poly, sand with 500, etc).
Fourth - There is a technique to do I think what's called "rubbing out a finish". If you do a google search on it, you will find some really great information. Here is an article giving a basic description:
http://antiquerestorers.com/Articles/SAL/rub.htm
Fayd, the formica thing has got me thinking - that is a really great idea for a desktop surface. I think, however, with cost being a factor, that I will be going the staining route, but keeping formica in mind after a few years of heavy wear!
For those of you interested in seeing how the kittens are doing, I've been keeping a bit of a video log on them - ie. I have been taking quick video clips of them every few days, since day 0. You can check them out here:
http://www.youtube.com/user/MrAderome#p/u
Also, here is a bit of a sneak peak, as far as actual computer hardware is concerned - I've been slowly acquiring bits and pieces, since I'm still not entirely sure what will end up in this Ultimate Computer Desk.
Kingston has decided to sponsor me, and has sent me this really fantastic SSD drive. I am PSYCHED!
As you are all aware, my first 2 staining attempts were successful in the sense that I learned a lot, however, I was still not achieving the result I originally wanted.
I decided to try something other than the tried-and-true local Home Depot, and I hit up a custom furniture store - Randalls. Let me tell you - it was a truly great experience, and I will be returning there many more times in the future due to the incredible service I received there.
I walked in with my backpack full of my 2nd attempt samples, and immediately a salesperson started talking with me about what I was there for. I explained to her the stains I tried, along with the techniques, and she asked to see my samples.
I pointed out the ones I liked, and why, and why I didn't like them, and she came back in a few minutes with a couple stains that might interest me. She then asked if she could do some sample stains on the back of the pieces I brought in. She took the pieces behind the counter, sanded them down, stained them, and came back in a few minutes with actual, real - this is what they're going to look like - samples.
How cool is that? I could have just gone there in the first place and spent the whole extra 2 dollars, but would have walked out with 1 product - the right one - the first time. Amazing - I'm really happy I discovered that place.
I can't imagine Home Depot opening up any of their products for a test piece.. I've never asked though, so who knows. Randall's is my goto place for stains now, however!
Once again, I decided to see what variety of colours I could get with what I had on hand, so I setup 8 samples once more:
1. Old Masters
2. Wood Conditioner + Old Masters
3. Wood Conditioner + Minwax + Old Masters
4. Wood Conditioner + Old Masters + Minwax
5. Wood Conditioner + Old Masters x 2 Coats
6. Old Masters x 2 Coats
7. Wood Conditioner + Varathane + Old Masters
8. Wood Conditioner + Old Masters + Varathane
I worked on the samples for about a week (1 coat per day, did 5 or 6 coats of poly on top, light sanding between poly coats)
Here are a couple close up shots while staining was in progress
And a comparison with the previous samples, once everything was nicely glossed up
Look at the difference in colour! Now that's more what I was looking for. There's no question that the gel stain has "muted" the grain a little bit, however, the colour is unquestionably closer to what I was looking for originally.
Here is a shot of my previously favorite samples from the 2nd round, against the new samples
And a closeup of the 2 samples I think I like the best. The differences between this batch are quite subtle, as the Old Masters gel stain has a very strong dye which mutes out the effects of conditioner, or any other stain applied before or after.
Now that's what I call progress! I think I can call it quits for testing stain now. Time to move on to the dreaded motherboard tray / I/O Slot stuff...
Until next time!