Anyone tried using wood hardener on softer woods?

[J D]

Have a fair bit of Redwood & it would be great if I could use it for tables & counter tops etc. Have given some to a friend on the provision he uses a wood hardener on it to see how it turns out.
Just wondering if anyone here has had cause to use it & what your experience was

 

[muddy42]

I use it but in a totally different context, repainting old sash windows. I treat areas of bare wood prior to repainting or where I have removed rotten wood to harden up the edges prior to filling with wood filler. Its basically a glue dissolved in an aggressive solvent, some also contain wood preservative. It goes very hard very quickly (and ruins brushes).

Personally I wouldn't use chemicals like this indoors. Id stick to traditional finishes like a turpentine and raw linseed oil mix (but with the same concept, a solvent to carry the oil deep into the wood). The first coat is say 50:50 to soak in deep. Sand lightly between coats and the proportion of turps gets reduced for the remaining coats. This is an old technique used by furniture makers, that creates a very hardwearing finish, but its slow drying, the full process takes months if you do it properly.

 

[J D]

I use it but in a totally different context, repainting old sash windows. I treat areas of bare wood prior to repainting or where I have removed rotten wood to harden up the edges prior to filling with wood filler. Its basically a glue dissolved in an aggressive solvent, some also contain wood preservative. It goes very hard very quickly (and ruins brushes).

Personally I wouldn't use chemicals like this indoors. Id stick to traditional finishes like a turpentine and raw linseed oil mix (but with the same concept, a solvent to carry the oil deep into the wood). The first coat is say 50:50 to soak in deep. Sand lightly between coats and the proportion of turps gets reduced for the remaining coats. This is an old technique used by furniture makers, that creates a very hardwearing finish, but its slow drying, the full process takes months if you do it properly.

Thanks, I have a fair bit of linseed oil so will definitely bare that in mind.
In this application I'm looking for something that will make the wood itself less likely to dent or blemish... would likely be coated in urethane or similar afterwards