Woodworking suggestions needed

[Jaxmax]

Ok so we were talking about manly woodworking skills and lumber jacks with chainsaws and Dan is doing the laundry? Really? Ok I can build or fix anything, and can’t do fine woodworking, teak bow pulpit and seats on my old Whaler is as close as I get, but will try my hands at it soon! My name is Jack and I am sort of a lumber Jack , run a couple Stihls but favorite is my 461 non electronic six horsepower tree dropping machine! Ok Dan I give ya the socks are awesome ,but still doing the laundry dude!
…..Jack?

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[WILDHOBO]

AAAHAHAHHAH. those are epic!!!

They’re getting a bit old, but they’re awesome.

 

[BourbonRunner]

They’re getting a bit old, but they’re awesome.

If I was a teenager again and still dropping trees I'd wear the hell outta those on the job!

 

[WILDHOBO]

If I was a teenager again and still dropping trees I'd wear the hell outta those on the job!

No need to be a teenager. Funny socks are timeless.

 

[chorky]

Ok all you wood workers. Need some thoughts. I am looking for a way to coat my slide out. My desire is for it to be smooth and waterproof to make cleaning simple. Like, wipe down with a rag or a disinfectant wipe simple. I will not do meal prep directly on it, and usually bring prepped dinners from home in a mason jar anyway, but I also don't want to be working on something super toxic or fire prone. I would appreciate some insight on these two options I have readily available. I know virtually nothing about finish work so consider me a total noob in this department.

Two products I tested out are an aerosol clear enamel, and shellac. Pictured below

I tested them both out on a scrap template I was making. This first image below is the enamel. It was super simple to apply. I would spray down a coat, let dry till tacky, then spray with another coat. Since it is a light aerosol film I sprayed probably 4-5 coats. It made a pretty hard surface that kinda feels like epoxy. I can scratch it with my finger nail but that makes sense since it's not formica or anything. I was curious what would happen if it was severely damaged so I took the oscillating sander to it and pressed pretty hard for a good several minutes. Then wiped it down, and did two light passes of the aerosol. This is the result. You can see that one center portion which still looks damaged, but that also prior was a spot that much of it must have stalled while drying as it was really thick there compared to the rest of the test spot. So it stands to reason with very poor touch up work it still stands out.

Next up was the shellac. I can say immediately I am not super fond of this. Right from the get go I got bubbles everywhere.... Thinking maybe I could do to this what many do with epoxy - that was a mistake as it set on fire immediately. So, it required another coat. Still, tons of bubbles. I only applied 3 coats as I was just not happy with the results. It smelled terrible, was not the easiest to apply compared to aerosol, and was definitely not as smooth. In this photo on the left and somewhat shiny is the beginning of a 4th coat that I just wanted to see what might look like. The right is the dried 3rd coat.

So I am conflicted. The shellac seems to be much thinner, difficult to use, smelly. But I do like how it is not glossy. It dries to a dull satin type sheen. The Enamel though appears thicker, very very smooth, super easy to work with, easy to repair, but it is shiny, although not a high gloss. For reference, here is a unfinished stained section.

I am curious if anyone has any suggestions. I did consider doing a super cool backlit epoxy with some type of lake or river scene but this piece of wood is too small, and epoxy is way more expensive than I thought. So I'm curious if anyone has any suggestions on this. I am leaning to the enamel for ease of application and repair, but I'm really not sure if it's the best option. One big concern is yellowing being in sun. I think shellac does not yellow. The enamel says it 'resists' yellowing but I really don't know what that means. This piece of wood will not constantly be exposed to direct sunlight, but it's not going to be in a dark dungeon either.

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