I’m about to start my first piece of furniture: a plank-top dining table made of pine. I’m using a table I saw in a catelog for inspiration, so I want to paint the entire table. I have 2 questions:
1) Do I have to be as concerned about wood movement since it will be painted?
2) What should I use to make a durable, painted finish? I know pine is soft and I may get gouges if its used roughly, but I want to make it as durable as possible.
Thanks for your time,
Cris
Replies
Whether or not the piece is painted rather than being given a clear finish won't make any difference from a wood movement point of view. The wood will still shrink and expand the same way, in fact cracks and pulled open joints will look worse and be more obvious on a painted piece than they will on a clear finished table. The one thing you can do is use plywood for the tabletop, eliminating many of your wood movement problems.
John W.
1) Do I have to be as concerned about wood movement since it will be painted?
Compared to what? Paint is very good protection against water or moisture, IF you use a good primer first, AND make sure you do all sides of the top. BUT, some moisture will still pass through, so there will still be seasonal movement; just not as much as if you used no finish at all, or an oil finish.
How much movement you need to plan for is a function of the wood species and your particular indoor climate. How much does the RH change in your house?
2) What should I use to make a durable, painted finish?
Here I defer to people who know more about paint. My suggestion would be to look at exterior enamels, which are formulated to hold up under much worse moisture conditions than your table will endure, but I don't really know that much about paint.
I'm sure John W. didn't mean to imply that a plywood top is "the only thing you can do." Thousands of serviceable plank-top tables might argue otherwise... you just have to design to accomodate the movement so the top doesn't crack. There's no mystery to it. And if you prime and paint the top (on all sides) before assembly, you will reduce the potential movement quite a lot, so the chances of cracking etc. are greatly reduced as well. Sealing the end-grain is very important. Breadboarding the ends can also help.
Finally, you seem to understand that a pine table top is not going to remain pristine indefinitely anyway, so you are already in the proper frame of mind to accept whatever cosmetic defects (or "character") might arise in time. Paint it, use it, and enjoy it!
"Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler." A. Einstein
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