Any tips on finishing rough cut lumber

Try using pre stain conditioner and a spray gun for applying the stain to have more of a uniform coat.

-- New Auburn,WI

That is kind of a ‘loaded question’. I guess I’m not sure what you mean by ‘finishing’. If I wanted to make a Dinning Table out of rough cut limber I would still make the working surface a highly sanded and buffed, stained, waxed surface. I would probably do a little smoothing on the sides, and legs. I would spray the same stain as the top. I would use a low luster polyurethane or just tung oil. A good natural looking finish is a mixture of tung oil, boiled linseed oil, and polyurethane mixed in equal parts making sure you wipe off the excess after a few minutes.

I built one from old eastern white pine from floor joists. Skip-planed it to leave some saw marks and bug holes, kinda champhered the jointed edges to highlight the joints, sealed it with shallec (Zinsser Seal Coat), stained it by using a toned poly with TransTint, final finish with a satin poly that was rubbed and waxed. The base was paint/glazed/distressed/clear coated.
I know. I hate poly anything, but there are times when it is appropriate.
Just my method.
Bill

-- bill@magraphics.us

I’ve had good luck with oil finishes, but usually of almost finished sanded. Not sure how well it would work if you left it totally rough. If you wanted to do that I would guess some sort of clear epoxy would work best.

Dave

-- Insanity, doing the same same thing over and expecting different results.