Help! DIY stand staining with different wood

[KingPringles]

Hi,

Wrapping up the Birch plywood DIY cube stand I'm making for my 34G Solana...but made a major beginner mistake. The corner accents are oak, the top molding is pine or fir, I think the bottom molding is pine, and all the paneling/door is birch.

I have a can of Minwax Kona (very dark brown) stain + poly. Worried the contrast will be too dramatic.

Anyone have experience with painting a white base/primer and applying the stain over it? Willing to forego the stained look for uniformity...and only have one day left to finish.


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[KingPringles]

Hi,

Wrapping up the Birch plywood DIY cube stand I'm making for my 34G Solana...but made a major beginner mistake. The corner accents are oak, the top molding is pine or fir, I think the bottom molding is pine, and all the paneling/door is birch.

I have a can of Minwax Kona (very dark brown) stain + poly. Worried the contrast will be too dramatic.

Anyone have experience with painting a white base/primer and applying the stain over it? Willing to forego the stained look for uniformity...and only have one day left to finish.


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[mcgyvr]

All depends on how "picky" you are..
It might not be too bad..
There will always be some variation between different species of woods when they are stained the same color..
Just apply the stain in a few spots.. Give it a bit to dry some..see how you like it..

 

[oreo57]

bleach then stain..

When you want to stain one wood to look like another. Removing the natural color from a wood makes matching the color of another wood easier. If you bleach both woods, you can stain them both the same color.

http://www.woodmagazine.com/materials-guide/finishes/get-the-color-out-with-wood-bleach

 

[davocean]

Even same type of wood will accept stain differently so there is always some variation, but IME oak usually does not penetrate like birch, and pine usually sucks it up fast, and usually needs a wood conditioner first.

You can try a wood conditioner on all and that may help, but the oak will look different w/ the hair like grain.

I'm not sure what you mean about primed wood w/ stain on, primed wood will not accept stain.

There are some clears that have stain color, those tend to lay on surface more, but not quite as transparent and showing of grain.(minwax polyshades is one I've used)

Whatever you do try on the scraps first to test.

 

[Lsufan]

I would definitely try on some scraps first. The pine will end up being darker then the birch & the birch darker the the oak. I would use the wood conditioner on it because it will help with the oine for sure. U may want to stain them in sections. Do the pine first & not let the stain sit on it long. Wipe it up almost immediately. Then do the birch & then the oak.

I think it will end up looking ok but u may have to do something like only put one coat on the pine. Eighther two coats on the birch & let it penetrate a little longer & two or 3 coats on the oak & let it penetrate a little longer then the birch.

U can’t use primer. Like Dave mentioned, the stain won’t penetrate the wood at all if u do that & u will end up having to paint the stand

 

[d0ughb0y]

You may get better control on amount of stain by diluting in mineral spirit then wiping it on with a piece of cloth.

 

[flsalty]

If you want to use primer you would have to go with a gel stain.

 

[Apotack]

Gel stain will make it easier to blend the color. As mentioned above using a pre stain wood conditioner will help even out the absorption difference between the wood species. If you want even coverage try paint or possibly milk paint instead of stain.

 

[KingPringles]

Ended up grabbing some conditioner but struggled with the oak trim and door (shouldve sanded more). Used an even darker stain to cover the light spots...basically dark coated the whole thing 3 shades darker than I wanted. Still salvaged though -not bad for a city boy!

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