Folks -
I have used a fair amount of pine in projects, mostly painted adirondack
chairs.... I am having trouble staining pine even tho' I am using a "wood
conditioner" that is "supposed" kill the blotchiness of stained pine.
I used Minwax Pre-Stain Wood Conditioner and followed the directions to the
letter. My shop was in the upper '60s, I put the conditioner on, let it sit
10 minutes, wiped off the excess and repeated the process, then I waited an
hour before staining. The can said apply, wait 5-15 min, repeat, if needed,
and apply finish within 2 hours. Rosta Ruck!
The stain was Minwax Spanish Oak and after couple of coats it looked okay,
but I still wasn't happy with what I thought would solve a problem. Am I
doing something wrong, or is what I got it, and it would have been "far
worse" without the pre conditioner....????
I'd appreciate any experience y'all might have, and thanks in advance!
John Moorhead
Lakeport, CA
On Mon, 29 Dec 2003 05:35:53 GMT, "john moorhead"
<[email protected]> wrote:
>I'd appreciate any experience y'all might have, and thanks in advance!
Try some other brands.
Mohawk / H. Behlen products give me far better results than Minwax. I
find Zar and Olympic between the two, but plenty usable as well.
You could try a dye stain followed by a dry brushed pigment stain.
Steps:
Sand to 120-150, no further, maybe 180-220 on end grain to keep the
color even.
Apply dye stain w/ rag.
Lock it down with dewaxed shellac or commercially available Seal Coat.
Give a quick LIGHT 320 scuff
Apply pigment stain w/ rag and dry brush, with the grain, until tacky.
Another lock down coat
Scuff lightly w/ 320
Apply your favorite protective finish.
Using the Mohawk / Behlens stuff you can do all of the above in one
day, if the sanding is done the day before.
You'll need to practice and experiment to get the dye/pigment combo
you want. The sealer coats will prevent the stains from altering each
other, and the clear coat from messing with the pigment stain.
Practice, practice, practice... <G> You'll spend extra money on
"product", but you'll save in the long run and your work will never
have looked better!
Barry
John:
Try using Zinsser's SealCoat (dewaxed blonde shellac in a can) first,
knocking off the fuzz (gently....very gently) and then staining per normal.
Good luck
Rob
--
Remove CC for email and please visit our web site:
http://www.robswoodworking.com
"john moorhead" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:Z2PHb.689897$Fm2.596441@attbi_s04...
> Folks -
>
> I have used a fair amount of pine in projects, mostly painted adirondack
> chairs.... I am having trouble staining pine even tho' I am using a "wood
> conditioner" that is "supposed" kill the blotchiness of stained pine.
>
> I used Minwax Pre-Stain Wood Conditioner and followed the directions to
the
> letter. My shop was in the upper '60s, I put the conditioner on, let it
sit
> 10 minutes, wiped off the excess and repeated the process, then I waited
an
> hour before staining. The can said apply, wait 5-15 min, repeat, if
needed,
> and apply finish within 2 hours. Rosta Ruck!
>
> The stain was Minwax Spanish Oak and after couple of coats it looked okay,
> but I still wasn't happy with what I thought would solve a problem. Am I
> doing something wrong, or is what I got it, and it would have been "far
> worse" without the pre conditioner....????
>
> I'd appreciate any experience y'all might have, and thanks in advance!
>
> John Moorhead
> Lakeport, CA
>
>
Hi John,
I found the Minwax stuff does not work very well too. I have switched to using
Sealcoat (a dewaxed Shellac) in its place. The stain is sometimes not as dark
with the same amount applied to untreated wood but it is even. Cheers, JG
john moorhead wrote:
> Folks -
>
> I have used a fair amount of pine in projects, mostly painted adirondack
> chairs.... I am having trouble staining pine even tho' I am using a "wood
> conditioner" that is "supposed" kill the blotchiness of stained pine.
>
> I used Minwax Pre-Stain Wood Conditioner and followed the directions to the
> letter. My shop was in the upper '60s, I put the conditioner on, let it sit
> 10 minutes, wiped off the excess and repeated the process, then I waited an
> hour before staining. The can said apply, wait 5-15 min, repeat, if needed,
> and apply finish within 2 hours. Rosta Ruck!
>
> The stain was Minwax Spanish Oak and after couple of coats it looked okay,
> but I still wasn't happy with what I thought would solve a problem. Am I
> doing something wrong, or is what I got it, and it would have been "far
> worse" without the pre conditioner....????
>
> I'd appreciate any experience y'all might have, and thanks in advance!
>
> John Moorhead
> Lakeport, CA
All the answers, including your own, say that "paint" is best. Painting is
what you're doing with any pigment stain even over sealer. I think shellac,
because it helps poorly resin-set boards stop oozing. Inconsistency in
resin content is one reason why pine absorbs stain so unevenly, the
difference between early and late wood in red pines is another.
If you're going to varnish, mix pigment with your varnish. Best thing after
letting it age and look like pine.
"john moorhead" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:Z2PHb.689897$Fm2.596441@attbi_s04...
> Folks -
>
> I have used a fair amount of pine in projects, mostly painted adirondack
> chairs.... I am having trouble staining pine even tho' I am using a "wood
> conditioner" that is "supposed" kill the blotchiness of stained pine.
>
john moorhead said:
>Folks -
>
>I have used a fair amount of pine in projects, mostly painted adirondack
>chairs.... I am having trouble staining pine even tho' I am using a "wood
>conditioner" that is "supposed" kill the blotchiness of stained pine.
Piney wood is just like that! <g>
Pre-treatments reduce the tendency of the wood to absorb large amounts
of stain. But they still blotch and streak to some degree. Lighter
colored stains, and those diluted with mineral spirits reduce this
tendency. I mix down my own, and test on scrap to arrive at the
desired results. IMHO, canned stains generally do poorly on pine.
You might try a water-based dye instead of a pigmented stain. They
tend to blotch less severely, because instead of filling the pores of
the wood with pigment, they actually penetrate the wood fiber and dye
it. The down side to this is that they don't hold up as well under
U.V or sunlight exposure.
Another consideration is to stain lighter than the desired final
result, and then mix a compatible stain in with your first finish
coat. Obscures the grain somewhat, but pine is hardly a 'fine wood'.
Good Luck,
Greg G.
I use pine all the time, I do lots of reproductions. Staining pine
can be tricky, sanding will affect how much stain is absorbed.
Recently I have tried this water base stain that gives me excellent
results. Here is the link for more info.
http://www.sylteck.com/content_anglais/saman.asp
Daniel Martin
"john moorhead" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<Z2PHb.689897$Fm2.596441@attbi_s04>...
> Folks -
>
> I have used a fair amount of pine in projects, mostly painted adirondack
> chairs.... I am having trouble staining pine even tho' I am using a "wood
> conditioner" that is "supposed" kill the blotchiness of stained pine.
>
> I used Minwax Pre-Stain Wood Conditioner and followed the directions to the
> letter. My shop was in the upper '60s, I put the conditioner on, let it sit
> 10 minutes, wiped off the excess and repeated the process, then I waited an
> hour before staining. The can said apply, wait 5-15 min, repeat, if needed,
> and apply finish within 2 hours. Rosta Ruck!
>
> The stain was Minwax Spanish Oak and after couple of coats it looked okay,
> but I still wasn't happy with what I thought would solve a problem. Am I
> doing something wrong, or is what I got it, and it would have been "far
> worse" without the pre conditioner....????
>
> I'd appreciate any experience y'all might have, and thanks in advance!
>
> John Moorhead
> Lakeport, CA
On Mon, 29 Dec 2003 07:03:43 -0500, Greg G. Crawled out of the shop
and said. . .:
snip
>Another consideration is to stain lighter than the desired final
>result, and then mix a compatible stain in with your first finish
>coat. Obscures the grain somewhat, but pine is hardly a 'fine wood'.
>
boy, don't let Jums see ya talking like that. . .
john moorhead wrote:
> chairs.... I am having trouble staining pine even tho' I am using a "wood
> conditioner" that is "supposed" kill the blotchiness of stained pine.
That's 'cause that stuff doesn't work worth a damn.
> I'd appreciate any experience y'all might have, and thanks in advance!
The Rolling Stones had the perfect recipe for pineywood. Paint it
black. :)
If you want to stain it, you've gotten some good suggestions so far. As of
this reading, I haven't seen anyone mention what grit to use yet. If you
go a bit rough on the sanding, like no more than 120 grit, you can usually
improve your chances of getting even absorption. Except on end grain. End
grain drinks stain like crazy. If you have exposed end grain, definitely
think about Seal Coat just to have a fighting chance.
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
On Mon, 29 Dec 2003 05:35:53 GMT, "john moorhead"
<[email protected]> Crawled out of the shop and said. . .:
>Folks -
>
John:
Pine is a strange creature when it comes to applying stains...
the stuff i have had the best luck with is a combination of minwax
sanding sealer, and bartley's gel stain
apply an easy coat of the sealer, then sand lightly to get rid of the
nibs.
apply the gel stain as directed on the can, but! wipe the excess off
sooner than later. you'll get a bit more even of a finish, and lots
less of the grain "reversal"
Traves
Only thing that I have found to look good on pine is either clear shellac,
or garnet shellac. You could use a blonde dewaxed shellac with an alcohol
based aniline dye added to produce the desired color. That should be the
extent of finish needed unless the surface will require wear resistance. In
that case you could topcoat with a clear finish such as Behlen's Rockhard
tabletop varnish.
Jon E
"john moorhead" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:Z2PHb.689897$Fm2.596441@attbi_s04...
> Folks -
>
> I have used a fair amount of pine in projects, mostly painted adirondack
> chairs.... I am having trouble staining pine even tho' I am using a "wood
> conditioner" that is "supposed" kill the blotchiness of stained pine.
>
> I used Minwax Pre-Stain Wood Conditioner and followed the directions to
the
> letter. My shop was in the upper '60s, I put the conditioner on, let it
sit
> 10 minutes, wiped off the excess and repeated the process, then I waited
an
> hour before staining. The can said apply, wait 5-15 min, repeat, if
needed,
> and apply finish within 2 hours. Rosta Ruck!
>
> The stain was Minwax Spanish Oak and after couple of coats it looked okay,
> but I still wasn't happy with what I thought would solve a problem. Am I
> doing something wrong, or is what I got it, and it would have been "far
> worse" without the pre conditioner....????
>
> I'd appreciate any experience y'all might have, and thanks in advance!
>
> John Moorhead
> Lakeport, CA
>
>
I've used the pre-conditioner too with about the same results you had. The
only stain I've had any luck with is the Minwax Honey Pine which I used for
a sideboard and looks the best of anything I've ever made with Pine. To
keep the pine look, I started using Red Cedar and then using Danish oil
which has worked very well for me.
Don
john moorhead <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:Z2PHb.689897$Fm2.596441@attbi_s04...
> Folks -
>
> I have used a fair amount of pine in projects, mostly painted adirondack
> chairs.... I am having trouble staining pine even tho' I am using a "wood
> conditioner" that is "supposed" kill the blotchiness of stained pine.
>
> I used Minwax Pre-Stain Wood Conditioner and followed the directions to
the
> letter. My shop was in the upper '60s, I put the conditioner on, let it
sit
> 10 minutes, wiped off the excess and repeated the process, then I waited
an
> hour before staining. The can said apply, wait 5-15 min, repeat, if
needed,
> and apply finish within 2 hours. Rosta Ruck!
>
> The stain was Minwax Spanish Oak and after couple of coats it looked okay,
> but I still wasn't happy with what I thought would solve a problem. Am I
> doing something wrong, or is what I got it, and it would have been "far
> worse" without the pre conditioner....????
>
> I'd appreciate any experience y'all might have, and thanks in advance!
>
> John Moorhead
> Lakeport, CA
>
>