Hi,
I've been given a solid pine coffee table that has got a clear varnish
on it at the moment. Because the colour doesn't fit in with the rest of the
furniture in the lounge (Dark Oak) I was hoping to darken it down to roughly
match.
A friend suggested a wood dye. I've never used a wood dye before. Could
someone please advise me on whether this is suitable, and if so also talk me
through the stripping, preparation, application and finishing processes. The
table top is a solid piece of pine, about 2" 1/2" thick.
At the end of the day I hope to have natural or satin finish (not
gloss).
Thanks
On Mon, 6 Oct 2003 18:30:41 +0100, "Ricardo" <[email protected]>
wrote:
> A friend suggested a wood dye.
Not a hope. Pine is awkward to dye anyway (it absorbs variably,
giving a blotchy colour) and yours already has a coat of varnish over
it. If you even tried dying, you'd first have to strip all the old
varnish off.
Go for a tinted varnish. Loads of them about, in almost any shade. Gel
is easier to get a good result with, if you can find some (applies
with a rag, not a brush)
--
Die Gotterspammerung - Junkmail of the Gods
"Ricardo" <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:
> Hi,
> I've been given a solid pine coffee table that has got a clear
> varnish
> on it at the moment. Because the colour doesn't fit in with the rest
> of the furniture in the lounge (Dark Oak) I was hoping to darken it
> down to roughly match.
> A friend suggested a wood dye. I've never used a wood dye before.
> Could
> someone please advise me on whether this is suitable, and if so also
> talk me through the stripping, preparation, application and finishing
> processes. The table top is a solid piece of pine, about 2" 1/2"
> thick.
> At the end of the day I hope to have natural or satin finish (not
> gloss).
>
> Thanks
>
>
I have had good luck in oil staining white pine.
I have found that if you start with 60 grit sanding disks, and work your
way through, down to 320, oil stain goes on very well.(orbital sander)
You have to take care that you sand all scratches of the former grit
out, before moving to the next finer grit, as you work your way down
through each grit. After wiping on the oil stain, and wiping off the
excess, I let it dry for a day or so, then I apply shellac via a cotton
rag with a wool remnant in the center. I steel wool the shellac after it
has dried and apply paste wax, let it dry, then buff it out with a
cotton rag. It has worked very good in all the pine projects I have
tried this on. You may have to experiment with several stains on some
pine test pieces to obtain the tint you want. All said it is possible to
stain pine, if you put the proper effort into the sanding process, and
end up at a VERY FINE grit before staining. If done properly you will have
a nice satin finish doing it in this manner.
Kruppt