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nobody23x t1_ivf02yu wrote

Look into at least sealing it or staining and then sealing it. Your skin touching it will discolor it heavily.

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OaklandCollushittum t1_ivf6lkw wrote

100%. though he should be careful if he uses stains along with a clear polyurethane coat. If he wants to add color to it I'd recommend using a gel stain because how inconsistently pine can suck up regular penetrating stain.

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Wanye2020Kest t1_ivf7fi0 wrote

The key is to raise the grain with a bit of water and sand it down with 120 grit, then use pre-stain before staining. It's all about the preparation; just make sure to sand it well. This will pretty much completely prevent stain blotching.

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Void_Of_Galaxies2727 t1_ivh7fo9 wrote

Now the question is how to protect it, because pine, from my experience in woodshop classes, takes damage easily depending on what happens to it, my recommendation is everything you said, then after that, putting a couple of coats of epoxy resin on it. That's what I was thinking about doing to my desk after talking to my old woodworking professor a week ago. It's just what to use, probably fast curing crystal clear resin. That's just my idea though, to preserve something to make it last longer, y'know?

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Chrollo283 t1_ivhsdjm wrote

I've been thinking of doing this same thing with a couple of light resin coats. My worry is around air bubbles forming and I don't have a vacuum chamber to remove the air before applying

If you have any tips, I would love to hear them!

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solracarevir t1_ivft712 wrote

To be honest, the wristpad too good for being made by someone who don't know it needs to be sealed.

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timtucker_com t1_ivgpk28 wrote

Having just went through the process of doing a few custom wrist rests like this over the last few days, it's not worth sealing up until you're sure that you've gotten the ergonomics right.

Far better to work quickly & test it out for a few days first to see if the angle / height / depth are off at all.

My kids wound up with new wrist rests on their keyboards after I realized from an initial attempt that I really needed at least 4" of depth.

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FinancialTea4 t1_ivgl65s wrote

I would suggest an oil finish like tung oil. If sanded correctly it'll be like satin and not stick to the skin. This is the finish I prefer on my guitars and bass guitars for that very reason.

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timtucker_com t1_ivgqr1k wrote

My experience with tung oil has been that it takes forever to cure, though.

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