Woodworking guys/ carpenters,I have a question about beetle pine siding

Make sure you use an exterior grade stain on it and not some Minwax crap. Minwax is strictly for interior wood, and it fades with the quickness if used outside.

Bumping my own thread, would really like some ideas on this.

Thanks man, I do intend to try some different things first on some extra pieces, and see what I like best.
Just hoping for some other ideas from people with more knowledge than me, on the things that I should try.

I want this to look really nice, it's for My Wife's Mom.

It's 1 inch thick. A planer would be great, but I don't have one.
Can you rent a planer?

This is new siding, it's just been a while since it went through the sawmill.

I'm not sure, but I would think rental would be available. At 1 inch thick, that is plenty thick enough to remove just a little to get down to a clean surface, plus it will remove any high spots or rough areas if the wood was just sitting out for a while gathering that gray patina.

Pick the best side and run that through for a nice smooth face. Just be aware of which way the grain is running on some boards to prevent checking. Always run with the grain when possible. If you're not sure what this means, I'm sure there's a few u-tube videos out there to show you.

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Would also recommend a few coats of shellac. They make few different shades and you could experiment with them until you get what your looking for - will make for a more uniform finished product.

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I second the shellac idea, especially if going to stain and wanting it to look uniform. Soft woods like pine and cypress take stain very irregular between soft and hard grain being in the same piece of wood.

The only thing I would recommend is to make what is called a "Piss Coat" of shellac by mixing 2 parts denatured alcohol to 1 part shellac. This goes on easy, dries fast, and if you are anal enough to sand it down, it will come out smooth as glass and ready for the final finish to go on.

I do this to all my cypress projects that people want stained and with excellent results.

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You are getting some recommendations for shellac on the wood, which is fine if it's on the interior. Shellac is great...fast dry, no sanding between coats because it rewets itself, can be tinted with universal tints for different tones. That said, I wouldn't recommend shellac on exterior wood. It's brittle and prolonged exposure to water/humidity will make it cloudy. Not to mention that it's a good vapor barrier, meaning that moisture doesn't pass thru the surface easily. That can cause problems outside (it's one of the reasons exterior oil paints and varnishes peel over time).

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This for sure.

OP, is the lumber rough sawed? If it is, I would just hang it like that. Problem is, Sun. Trying to sand a bunch will beat you to death. How wide are the boards?

The finish you want to use is called Rubio Monocoat. Google it. Only one coat and bonds to the wood molecules, it does not form a film.

Talked to the man that owns the sawmill. He's going to cut me some fresh boards 12inches wide x 3/4 thick.

I really can't believe how affordable this is going to be.
Enough siding to do the entire building is going to be less than 800 bucks, and I think it's going to look great.
I am only going to do the finishing on 2 sides that will be seen, The other 2 sides just going to seal them good.

Thanks for all the advice folks. Will find a way to post some photos after it's finished. That will probably be a few weeks out.

ETAsk : once I apply the Rubio monocoat, would I be done? I would need to apply some sealer for outdoors right? Or is the burning also going to help with that?