Coffee Stain Experient Update

>It looks good, a nice coffee color.

Very interesting - I'm all for reducing toxicity. Do you have any
experience with coffee- (or tea-) stained wood fading if exposed to
sunlight?
Also, I wonder if coffee could be dissolved in 1-lb shellac to make a
non-grain-raising colored finish. In my experience, orange shellac
looks good on red oak, but looks too yellow on white oak, so I've been
trying stains/dyes that would make it look less yellow, but still clear
and natural-looking.
Thanks for sharing,
Andy

J T wrote:
> Those of you who have been here longer than all day know I am
> trying to get away from toxic stuff, So, I've switched to water-based
> poly (which I'm quite happy with), tea stain (which has worked nicely),
> latex paint where I can, etc. - all water cleanup, versus mineral
> spirits or paint thinner. And, have tried coffee stain, with mixed
> results.
>
> I was out in the shop knocking out some of my knock-down bookshelf
> units, and ran across my test piece, with my coffe stain tries. It has
> one coat of coffee, two, three, and four. The last time I'd seen it, it
> was about two weeks after the test, and the three and four coat test
> were still sticky, the four coat markedly mor so.
>
> Part of the problem may have been that I didn't allow enough time
> between coats for the coffee to dry sufficiently, befor putting on the
> next coat. I almost wixh now, I'd stuck the test piece somewhere I
> could frequently check on it, because the results look pretty good.
> That would have given me an idea of how long it took for the coats to
> dry.
>
> Anyway, the single coat had dried within a reasonable time. I don't
> recall now if it was overnight, or a few hours. It looks good, a nice
> coffee color.
>
> The two coats also looks good, quite a bit darker than just one
> coat. I recall it didn't take significantly longer to dry than the
> single coat.
>
> The three coats are very dark. It took long enough to dry that I
> stuck it in the shop while it was still tacky - a couple of weeks as far
> as I can recall.
>
> The four coats are not really noticeably darker than the three
> coats. So, I don't feel it would be worth the extra time. Plus, it
> probably took longer to try.
>
> I used instant coffee to brew this up, very, very, strong. I don't
> know if it would have dried faster if it had been weaker, or not. I
> think it might. I've got a project pending that I think would look very
> nice with the same shade as the two coats of coffee, so I may do some
> more testing with this.
>
> The tea stain dries very quickly, and multiple coats goes pretty
> rapidly. It gives a nice shade, but not not nearly as dark as the
> coffee stain. I tried adding food dye, but it didn't do enough to make
> it worthwhile.
>
> I also tried adding a bit of latex paint to the tea, which did give
> a pleasing result, but I think just thinning the latex, without the tea,
> would do just as well - making a wash, or stain, rather than a thick
> paint surface. This needs some more research, but I think it will give
> more a colored stain, rather than a "wood" stain look. I came up with a
> very nice tarnished copper look this way, for one of my protypes. I
> think this method could be very nice in some applications, especially
> stuff for kids.
>
> An afterthought. Since I tried Turtle Wax shoe polish, I've been
> looking for more since. It worked quite nicely, but not been able to
> find more. I tried Kiwi shoe polish too, which I can find, but I'm not
> satisfied with that at all. So, looks like I'll just stick with
> Johnson's paste wax, which also works quite nicely. Still got almost
> two full cans. Hehehehe
>
>
>
> JOAT
> You'll never get anywhere if you believe what you "hear". What do you
> "know"?.
> - Granny Weatherwax
>
Was this with cream & sugar or Navy style straight up?

--
Gerald Ross
Cochran, GA

'Bother', said Pooh as he stuffed
Piglet's corpse into a trash bag





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I know from twenty years of selling the stuff, that Instant coffee is very
sticky, especially when you make it as strong as you did. It tends to get
very "syrupy"(if that's a word??) as it dries. Have you ever tried using
real coffee grounds? It seems to me that if you were to use about 3oz (by
weight) of medium or medium dark roast coffee grounds to brew a half of a
pot of coffee, that you would have a very rich colored brew to experiment
with. In fact, it should be about the color of espresso. Dark roast beans
would likely stain almost black.

HHHMM, Perhaps I should be heading out to the shop to do a little bit of
experimenting.

Have fun
Doug


"J T" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Those of you who have been here longer than all day know I am
> trying to get away from toxic stuff, So, I've switched to water-based
> poly (which I'm quite happy with), tea stain (which has worked nicely),
> latex paint where I can, etc. - all water cleanup, versus mineral
> spirits or paint thinner. And, have tried coffee stain, with mixed
> results.
>
> I was out in the shop knocking out some of my knock-down bookshelf
> units, and ran across my test piece, with my coffe stain tries. It has
> one coat of coffee, two, three, and four. The last time I'd seen it, it
> was about two weeks after the test, and the three and four coat test
> were still sticky, the four coat markedly mor so.
>
> Part of the problem may have been that I didn't allow enough time
> between coats for the coffee to dry sufficiently, befor putting on the
> next coat. I almost wixh now, I'd stuck the test piece somewhere I
> could frequently check on it, because the results look pretty good.
> That would have given me an idea of how long it took for the coats to
> dry.
>
> Anyway, the single coat had dried within a reasonable time. I don't
> recall now if it was overnight, or a few hours. It looks good, a nice
> coffee color.
>
> The two coats also looks good, quite a bit darker than just one
> coat. I recall it didn't take significantly longer to dry than the
> single coat.
>
> The three coats are very dark. It took long enough to dry that I
> stuck it in the shop while it was still tacky - a couple of weeks as far
> as I can recall.
>
> The four coats are not really noticeably darker than the three
> coats. So, I don't feel it would be worth the extra time. Plus, it
> probably took longer to try.
>
> I used instant coffee to brew this up, very, very, strong. I don't
> know if it would have dried faster if it had been weaker, or not. I
> think it might. I've got a project pending that I think would look very
> nice with the same shade as the two coats of coffee, so I may do some
> more testing with this.
>
> The tea stain dries very quickly, and multiple coats goes pretty
> rapidly. It gives a nice shade, but not not nearly as dark as the
> coffee stain. I tried adding food dye, but it didn't do enough to make
> it worthwhile.
>
> I also tried adding a bit of latex paint to the tea, which did give
> a pleasing result, but I think just thinning the latex, without the tea,
> would do just as well - making a wash, or stain, rather than a thick
> paint surface. This needs some more research, but I think it will give
> more a colored stain, rather than a "wood" stain look. I came up with a
> very nice tarnished copper look this way, for one of my protypes. I
> think this method could be very nice in some applications, especially
> stuff for kids.
>
> An afterthought. Since I tried Turtle Wax shoe polish, I've been
> looking for more since. It worked quite nicely, but not been able to
> find more. I tried Kiwi shoe polish too, which I can find, but I'm not
> satisfied with that at all. So, looks like I'll just stick with
> Johnson's paste wax, which also works quite nicely. Still got almost
> two full cans. Hehehehe
>
>
>
> JOAT
> You'll never get anywhere if you believe what you "hear". What do you
> "know"?.
> - Granny Weatherwax
>

"Australopithecus scobis" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Wed, 15 Mar 2006 10:34:46 -0500, J T opined:
>
>> I used instant coffee to brew this up, very, very, strong.
>
> Sounds like you have hygroscopic coffee residue on the 3x and 4x patches.

Maybe a little warmth followed by a sealer of sorts or coat of poly?

On Wed, 15 Mar 2006 10:34:46 -0500, [email protected] (J T)
wrote:

> Those of you who have been here longer than all day know I am
>trying to get away from toxic stuff, So, I've switched to water-based
>poly (which I'm quite happy with), tea stain (which has worked nicely),
>latex paint where I can, etc. - all water cleanup, versus mineral
>spirits or paint thinner. And, have tried coffee stain, with mixed
>results.

Thanks for sharing your results.

One traditional staining medium you didn't mention is chickory: I
have used it to even the shade of oak boards, and to match antique
coloring on old beams. Works fine, and you can easily use successive
coats to achieve the shade you want. I have shellaced and wxed over it
with no problems.


only one p in my real address / un seul p dans ma véritable adresse

On Wed, 15 Mar 2006 10:34:46 -0500, J T opined:

> I used instant coffee to brew this up, very, very, strong.

Sounds like you have hygroscopic coffee residue on the 3x and 4x patches.

--
"Keep your ass behind you"
wreck20051219 at spambob.net