I have a question. I just finished a window cornice out of oak. The stain I used did not work well at all. It was only a year or two old. The stain, Golden Oak, absorbed into some of the grain, making it very dark, but left a majority of the wood light. My question is how do I restain the piece? Can I just stain over, do I have to paint it now, or am I in a predicament. Any ideas would be very helpful. Thanks for you time.
Andrew
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Replies
The stain might not have been old. Some stains and some wood react like that.
It is too late to use a dye. There are other tricks that you can use, but they are not easy.
Probably the best thing is to get a gell stain.
That is sorta like a cross between a paint and a stain.
You can control how much it colors the wood by how much you leave on it.
And you can leave more in some areas and less in others.
The open pours of oak will readily suck up stain if left unfilled. Check your stain can label. If it has the component Gilsonite, that is your culprit. It loves to sit in the pours of oak nice and dark.
You could try using a gel stain over it as Bill suggested. Seems to me I have used a wash of trans tint after applying an oil based stain and gotten nice results on oak. You coud also try a glaze.
You might want to try the folks ovver at Knots as well.
Edited 3/11/2005 8:30 pm ET by pino
"Check your stain can label. If it has the component Gilsonite, that is your culprit"In most cases the the labels really don't tell you anything about what is in it. Sometimes you can get some clues from the MSDS.But I doubt if this one has any gilsonite or at least much of it, as gilsonite is a brown color.Gilsonite is not like most stains. Stains are finely ground menerials and they will collect in the pours and grain of a wood like oak.But commercial "stains" include both stains and dyes and maybe other colorants.However gilsonite can sometime act like a stain and sometimes act like a dye.I used some Watco Walnut, which is basically gilsonite in a oil/varnish mix, on some ash and got a nice relatively uniform light brown, but with the grain clearly showing.Then I used it on some ash table legs. And it went ZEBRA.I talked with Jeff Jewitt and he is the one that told me about the Jeckell and Hyde characteristic of gilsonite.HE suggested the gell stain.And it worked out nicely. These where legs for a table and I wanted the based to be dark and a light top.
I was under the impression that gilsonite left a very dark brown, almost black look. Seems to me I found a major commercial stain with a considerable amount of gilsonite, but I can't remember which one.I used that stain on some curly red oak which resulted in a deep brown/black effect in the unfilled pores. I used this after applying some trans tint mixed in water and ended up with a really nice look, similar to Jewiit's fumed-look but not quite as striking.On the other hand, I used the same stain on a piece of beech and ended up with the same results you got on your ash, but in both cases the resulting open grain was almost black.Regardless, I'm still quite the amateur at finishing wood and could well be wrong about the gilsonite.. For me the biggest lesson learned to date is to always test your finish through to the end on a sample before finishing a completed work.
"I was under the impression that gilsonite left a very dark brown, almost black look"I think that it can depending on the concentration and also how it is appplied.I have heard of it applied over a sealer coat and have a much different affect. For got what it was.However, in this case the stain was a "golden oak". That is why I am say that I doubt that it had much if any gilsonite.And there also all kind of brown pigments that could have been used.So there is no real reason to "blame" gilsonite."For me the biggest lesson learned to date is to always test your finish through to the end on a sample before finishing a completed work"But that is very, very true.
It'd be nice if you could get Golldhillers attention, I don't see his name in the popdown.
You have a problem in that your stain is dark in some areas and you don't want that.
You cant proceed any further until you resolve that, no sense putting any more stain on top of what's already wrong. It will just make it darker, and a bigger problem to deal with.
You can see if you can sand any of it out, depends on how deep it went though.
Doug
Can you post a couple pics of this?
We can all probably do a better job of advising if we can see it.
Would be nice if you could also post a pic of the target color (if you're trying to match something.... or come close to it.)
Pics at 100KB or a little under are best for everyone on dial-up.
This Golden Oak you used.......it's a Minwax product, yes?
Knowledge is power, but only if applied in a timely fashion.
Edited 3/11/2005 9:52 pm ET by GOLDHILLER
Mr Goldhiller...
Somebody would like to speak to you...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Oak is a tricky wood. The dense pours will often suck up the stain and leave blochyness. Next time use a conditioner before staining, and remember to wipe on, wipe off. As for the fix?? post a pic if possible, you may be able to darken down the rest of the piece to match the problem area.
I always use a "spit coat" of 1 part shellac 3 parts denatured alcohol. Let it dry, rub with a fine scotchbrite or 0000 steel, tack, stain, and finish. <duck and cover>
The awful thing is that beauty is mysterious as well as terrible. God and the devil are fighting there, and the battlefield is the heart of man.
- Fyodor Dostoyevski
Edited 3/12/2005 4:25 pm ET by fn_benthayer