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When I received the unfinished International Concepts 647 Mission Printer Stand and its' larger cousin the International Concepts TV-28 Mission TV Stand, I was confused.
I did not know how I would finish the two pieces, since the color of the wood on both was bone white. While the wood itself is high quality hardwood, and a good value, I'm thinking these pieces were probably Chinese oak, since they were manufactured in Vietnam.
The shipping for these two products, which I purchased on amazon.com, was fast. The contents of the packages were in great condition and no parts were missing. Assembly was easy. However it was several weeks before I decided on a course of action for finishing the wood.
I'm not a big fan of staining wood, because even if applied correctly, stain takes a long time to dry, especially when more than one coat of stain is applied.
Mission furniture should be a darker color. However, I couldn't see a way do darken either of these pieces sufficiently, so I decided that the best way for me to go was Minwax Polyshades. I boiled my choices down to two colors, Mission Oak and American Chestnut. I went with American Chestnut because I thought it would more closely match my existing furniture since the color was a bit deeper.
What I used to finish the two pieces was the can of stain/finish, a good brush, a clean cloth for wiping excess stain/finish and a can of odorless mineral spirits. Just like stain, the best way to apply polyshades is with a brush, and after it sets a bit, wipe off the excess. The idea is to put on a very, very thin first coat.
Because of the numerous joints and surfaces in these two products, it took a long time to get both pieces to the point where it looked like the stain/finish was applied correctly. Working at a steady pace, the application process took well over ten hours in several stages. What resulted was sort of a light golden-bronze color finish.
Purists may argue that sanding is necessary prior to doing something like this, but to be honest, I couldn't see the point, since polyshades will basically adhere to anything. The results I got wouldn't win a prize in a finishing competition, but they were very, very good just the same.
While I applied three coats of polyshades to each of the tabletops and shelves, I did nothing more to the slats and sides of each piece, except to apply one coat and then remove the burrs with steel wool and apply a good coat of furniture wax.
I felt that sanding and reapplying more stain/finish to the sides would have been overkill. I don't know about you, but when I look at a table, my focus it on the tabletop, not on the legs, which tend to be obscured and darkened when installed in any room with normal lighting. Besides, most manufactured furniture will not be finished with a heavy coat of polyurethane anyway.
I don't know if this sort of oak would have taken a dark stain after sanding. My guess is that it wouldn't.
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As I was applying the varnish coating to the desk, I saw that the top had a lengthy crack in the wood. While it did not affect structural integrity, it was noticeable and should have been caught by quality control before it left the factory. While I had the option to return the item, that is a pain in the rear for an item like this as it requires repacking a large box and there never seems to be enough room once it is unpacked. So not wanting to disassemble and wait for a replacement, we are using it as a printer stand.Of course, you could say "you get what you pay for" but I believe basic quality should be assured.
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