the stand is 36" tall
heres some shots of what ive done so far tonight and some stuff i got at HD (they had a sale on the buckets...only $3 each! so i HAD to grab some!)
painted the inside of the stand and canopy with the first coat of white paint...its a special formula for Kitchen and Bath and is suppsoed to be very moisture resistant (hey coff, it was cheaper to buy a smaller can for $13 than to buy the paint and poly seperately and thanks again for the help!)
testing out the stain...i went with the Cherry 235 i think...i tried it with and without the wood conditioner which is made for very soft wood like pine and man its night and day! I also let the stain soak for 5,10&15 minutes before wiping to see if there were any differences and there wasnt much...i tested the diff time intervals with letting the wood cond. set for 8 minutes
this is with wood cond. (on right) and without cond. (on left)...you can clearly see the blotchyness and uneveness that happens without the wood cond.
and heres the scrap with the diff time intervals at 5 10 and 15 minutes of soak time from left to right along with the previous picture on the far right
as you can see there really is very little difference in letting the stain soak for diff time periods and i think its because im using a pre stain wood conditioner which essentially makes the board less porous
im still not 100% sure if this is the stain i want...i think i want something darker..anyone have any suggestions?