I undertook my very first woodworking project (well, since pinebox derby) this week, and built a simple bookcase. I stained it yesterday with an oil-based Minwax Wood Finish stain, but now I'm realizing I don't have time to finish it before I have people over this weekend. I don't have a garage or any other place to hide the unfinished product, plus I'd really like to put my books on it because I don't have any place for those either.

So here's the question: can I use my stained-but-not-finished bookcase for one weekend before I finish it? Or am I putting myself at great risk of staining all of my books or making the finishing work much more difficult?

Saran wrap under the books. Problem solved. Next.

store your books in your room and finish the project.

take your time with it.

If the stain is fully dry (which it should be) you should be fine.

Bloor is correct. The stain is itself a thin, low grade finish. Make sure it's dry by pushing a thumbnail into it somewhere inconspicuous. Does it leave a dent easily? Proceed accordingly.

(insert dick joke)

Huh? If it's pine or a soft wood like that, it's gonna leave a dent no matter what finish is on it, or how dry the finish is.

I'd recommend beeswax to finish the project off to protect the finish. Not only is it easy, but it smells good & is less hazardous to your health than even water-based topcoats.

Unfortunately, as a result of the cold temperature and my not wiping the stain off as early as i might have, it was still a little tacky as of this morning. But thanks, that's good to know.

1. I hope Aaron didn't use some shitty soft pine for a strutural piece like a bookshelf.

2. You don't have to push hard, just a little bit to simulate a book corner etc bearing down on it. There's a clear difference between the way still-tacky finish (which it still is, looks like) and fully dried finish feel.

There's nothing wrong with pine bookcases- in my years at the unfinished furniture store we sold hundreds of 'em.

But if the finish is still tacky overnight, that's not a good sign. Haq, you got someplace warmer you can store it?

I don't have anywhere else to put it, finch -- I could shut the window and make it warmer, but I'm concerned the fumes will linger. Anyway, I'm not too concerned about the tackiness just yet. I didn't realize I needed to wipe off non-drippy excess stain after applying, so it sat overnight that way. When I figured out my mistake, I wiped the whole thing down and that helped a lot (and there didn't seem to be any aesthetic degradation). But that wasn't till last night, so I don't think it's totally abnormal that the surface was just a bit tacky this morning. But maybe I'm wrong.