Staining tips?

[6Speed]

My friend told me that you can mix the stain and varnish together and it will look great. I've never heard of this and wondered if it were true. Either way, what are some good tips to follow when staining/varnishing a stand?

 

[Russ Braaten]

You can but you will not get a great looking stand. Use an oil wiping stain and get it the depth of color you want. You can also fix goof-ups too. Just wipe on more stain over a drippy over stain or fill in a bare spot. Then use a good polyurethane type sealer. Varnish yellows, cracks and is not as good looking.

 

[6Speed]

Any paticular brands you'd suggest? Last time I used minwax mahogoney stain and some poly that I believe was for outdoors. It looks pretty good, but I know I could do better on my 2nd try.

 

[hllywd]

Sounds like you're on the right track 6. Water based poly drys fast and is very easy to clean up. I think Minwax sells "Polycrylic" a Polyurethane and stain mix... I personally wouldn't use it. Do it right the first time, you'll get the results you want.

 

[Russ Braaten]

Go to your local paint specialty store. Ask them what the best product is for your needs. They will have stuff that is a lot better than national brands sold to retail consumers.

 

[jjac]

Minwax standard oil stains. The use a antique oil finish, minwax makes one that comes in a red and black can. I used that Formby's oil finish before and it worked good. Just rub it on with a clean cloth, let dry and lightly sand with 220 grit paper and recoat with oil finish. I would apply up to 4-5 coats for a real durable finish. Those polycrylic stains and sealers suck in my opinion.

 

[hllywd]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6949036#post6949036 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jjac
Minwax standard oil stains. The use a antique oil finish, minwax makes one that comes in a red and black can. I used that Formby's oil finish before and it worked good. Just rub it on with a clean cloth, let dry and lightly sand with 220 grit paper and recoat with oil finish. I would apply up to 4-5 coats for a real durable finish. Those polycrylic stains and sealers suck in my opinion.

I had never used a water based stain but I needed some black and that's the only thing Lowes could mix. I thought it worked out pretty good but not as well as the oil based... it dried almost too fast.:eek1:

 

[6Speed]

Thanks for the tips! I'm going to use birch plywood I think, and I want the stain to look really nice. My buddy built the stand that my 65 gallon is standing on, and IMO he stained it too dark. You can see the woodgrain, but it just doesn't stand out. Don't get me wrong, I like a dark rich stain, but I also love the look of woodgrain.

 

[Alphabet]

Brush your stain on and wipe it off, or you could a rag. One rag for the application and one to remove excess. Try your stain on a scrap piece first. I would also use a sanding sealer after the stain has dried, it seals the wood and sands nicely to a smooth finish. One or two coats its up to you, then you wipe it all down with a tack cloth, to remove the dust from sanding. Now you can put down your polyurethane. Poly comes in Satin, Semi-Gloss and High Gloss finish. They make both Oil and Latex(water based) products. Sherwin Williams has POLYCRLIC finishes which are Latex. Recap-Stain gives you a color, Sanding Sealer-protects/seals stain for finishing, Polyurethane-gives you your finish. HTH

 

[BrentN]

I used that helmsman spar poly on my canopy (over blk stain). I used the satin, which still came out fairly glossy, but looks good. The only prob I'm having is with the lid. I scratched it while sanding the first top coat, so I sanded back down to the wood up to 320 grit, but now can't get the grain to show through the stain. Must be missing something..
This staining has turned into a million more steps than I was expecting. (1st try at staining). Good luck.

 

[hllywd]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6951941#post6951941 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by BrentN
I used that helmsman spar poly on my canopy (over blk stain). I used the satin, which still came out fairly glossy, but looks good. The only prob I'm having is with the lid. I scratched it while sanding the first top coat, so I sanded back down to the wood up to 320 grit, but now can't get the grain to show through the stain. Must be missing something..
This staining has turned into a million more steps than I was expecting. (1st try at staining). Good luck.

You're way more anal about the process than me.... 180 or 220 is about as far as you need to go, the polyurethane will smooth the rest out fine. I usually use 220 between poly coats then lay a final coat with a new foam brush, 3 coats normally is plenty.

Do you mean the stain is opaque enough it looks like paint when you say you can't see the grain? Or are you looking for the grain to show in the surface of the finish?

 

[BrentN]

hllywd,

It looks like black paint. It looked good before I scratched it with the grain showing in the finish, even giving it a textured feel vs. a completely smooth finish. As I said, the front and sides of the canopy look great, and the lid did look great before the scratches. Maybe I over-sanded? I'll try to upload some pics tonight.

Sorry 6speed, not trying to hijack-hopefully this is useful info for you..