"TimR" wrote in message
news:uODQg.533$tO5.325@fed1read10...
Can someone describe the basic pros/cons between minwax regular wood stain
and then applying polyurethane...stain with polyurethane included
(poly...and the new water based minwax stains ? I'll be staining some
wood
veneer and also casing/baseboard moldings.

Thanks TR

Polyurethane is essentially paint without any pigment. When you add pigment
regular old pigmented paint. It is pretty thin, so some grain shows
through; like a semitranparent deck stain.

It depends on the look you are going for. If the wood surface is nice and
you want it to look like wood, then stain and poly. If the wood isn't so
great, then stain/poly.
I found some nice chairs that were too light. I started to sand them down
and realized it would take much longer than they were worth, so I
stain/polyed them. They look fine, just not like if I had sanded them down
and handled them properly.