Mianne Benchwork - Stain Options

Great job taking the time to make those samples. No doubt it will come in handy for future reference. I used Varathane Early American from Home Depot. Easy to apply with one coat coverage.  

I tried stains, although it looks nice, it detracts from the trains.

I learned that plain ole flat black moves the eye focus on the trains not the wood working.

Just my view on benchwork. I love any stained wood as I still have all the 1977 Ethan Allen Livingroom , but not for this application.

I'm with the black, that's the color I'm going to paint my fascia.

I agree with Steve and John. Flat black so the focus is on the layout, not the benchwork.

Andy

vash44: I used Minwax water based wood stain "Toffee" color:

I vote a firm "NO" to black for the benchwork. Only my opinion of course LOL!

Tim Foley from Mianne Benchwork recommended first lightly sanding, then using a pre-stain, then the water based stain and finally a coat of polyurethane.

He liked my results so well that my (prior) layout pictures are on the home page of his website just above the words "our catalog" :

Mianne Benchwork website home page

Good luck with your project!

Stan

@stangtrain posted:

I vote a firm "NO" to black for the benchwork. Only my opinion of course LOL!

Your vote is noted and rejected!

If the layout is in a basement or garage, maybe a 'solid' color

If the layout is in a bedroom or 'in the house', maybe a 'traditional stain color (i.e. furniture effect)

vash, I have some Mianne stained with Miwax 210 - Golden Oak, give me a few days and i will post a pic

Nice work!

The question to me is simple. Do you want the eyes to be drawn to and focus on the model railroad/trains, OR be drawn to and focus on a furniture like structure in the room. To each his own, but my choice would be black (If I were to do it over again). When I built mine I used whatever leftover paints and stains that were lying around preferring to spend discretionary income on trains themselves.

This is the best advice i can give anyone ,do some samples on scrap pieces ,see what looks good for you & go with that ,don't worry about what anybody things or what they say it's your layout & your house ,if it looks good to you that's all that matters.

@Genemed posted:

Great job taking the time to make those samples. No doubt it will come in handy for future reference. I used Varathane Early American from Home Depot. Easy to apply with one coat coverage.  

Thank you! The Early American looks great on your layout! One coat makes for a nice coverage option too.

@SIRT posted:

I tried stains, although it looks nice, it detracts from the trains.

I learned that plain ole flat black moves the eye focus on the trains not the wood working.

Just my view on benchwork. I love any stained wood as I still have all the 1977 Ethan Allen Livingroom , but not for this application.

Good thoughts as well. I could see where woodworking could be the focus of the layout.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

I'm with the black, that's the color I'm going to paint my fascia.

Your layout has been coming together nicely! Have been following its progress for a long time.

@modeltrainsparts posted:

The question to me is simple. Do you want the eyes to be drawn to and focus on the model railroad/trains, OR be drawn to and focus on a furniture like structure in the room. To each his own, but my choice would be black (If I were to do it over again). When I built mine I used whatever leftover paints and stains that were lying around preferring to spend discretionary income on trains themselves.

Your benchwork looks really nice. Was planning to have some overhang on mine which may subdue some of the woodwork itself.

@EMD posted:

If the layout is in a basement or garage, maybe a 'solid' color

If the layout is in a bedroom or 'in the house', maybe a 'traditional stain color (i.e. furniture effect)

vash, I have some Mianne stained with Miwax 210 - Golden Oak, give me a few days and i will post a pic

Nice work!

The layout will be in a detached garage. It has white walls and a gray floor. Looking forward to seeing the Golden Oak.

@stangtrain posted:

vash44: I used Minwax water based wood stain "Toffee" color:

I vote a firm "NO" to black for the benchwork. Only my opinion of course LOL!

Tim Foley from Mianne Benchwork recommended first lightly sanding, then using a pre-stain, then the water based stain and finally a coat of polyurethane.

He liked my results so well that my (prior) layout pictures are on the home page of his website just above the words "our catalog" :

Mianne Benchwork website home page

Good luck with your project!

Stan

Your layout is incredibly nice Stan! I think you did a great job on the color but also am a big fan of your shelves and how you displayed your trains on the layout!

Here is Mianne benchwork stained with Minwax 210 Golden Oak