How to harden new softwood?

[johnny2007]

Hi everyone,
I run out of my supply of Polycryl "donated" in gone days by a supplier and can't find it in uk.
I want to use furniture boards to build a cabinet in a high traffic area and would prefer to avoid spending a lot of money on hardwood.
Can I use wood hardener on new wood, even though there's no rot?
Would it harden the wood a bit or just mess it up.
Failing that, I'll use the trusted ronseal diamond hard varnish but open to suggestions.
Thanks.
P.S.: you know you're getting old when the products you used all of your life don't exist anymore

 

[big-all]

wood hardener/stabilizer only works on soft spongy rotting wood holding it together you remove 95-99% off the decay then the bits that where going soft would have a bitoff suport enough to get filler or new wood in place to stick

 

[^woody^]

Give it a go. From past experience, hardener for rot hardens good wood too if it can soak into the timber.

I'm not sure if such treated timber can then take an oil or penetrating stain finish.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

I'm not sure if such treated timber can then take an oil or penetrating stain finish.

After wood hardener any penetrating finish, such as an oil, won't be able to soak into the timber, so it will just sit on the surface.

I used to treat the back edges of wooden kitchen worktops with wood hardener. I don't thinknit hardened the wood, but it certainly waterproofed it a bit. These days I just applhy a couple of coats of oil-based (NOT water-based) polyurethane lacquer. It's really only the back edges and the undersides around the sink that I'm concerned about where water ingress is possible