Min-Wax stain second coat question

I am rapidly finishing up what I consider to be my first project (due Friday!:eek: ) and I have a question.

I have built a memory box for my daughter out of lyptus (because the Woodcraft in Albuquerque doesn't carry QS white oak). I applied red-mahogany min-wax late last night and it turned out better than I expected, but I would like it darker if I possible. The can says to reapply a second coat 4-6 hours after the first, but due to needs to sleep and work and boy scouts I won't even be able to look at it for 24 hours:( .

Can I add a second coat at this point:confused: ?

I am intending to top coat with shellac. I don't have much time left. I have to give my wife some time to take care of the memory part of it. It will be filled with dance memorabilia, as she is a senior in high school and just finished what will probably be her last recital.

thanks (pics and a proper introduction to the Creek maybe later this week)

Bob,

I have recoated using minwax stain 24 hours after the first coat. I just lightly sanded between coats like you would between coats of poly. It worked great and did work to darken up the color. I actually ended up using 3 coats of stain on that project. It has been in use for only 3 months, but there is no sign of problems.

Good luck!

You can't rush finishes...if they don't cure properly, you're asking for trouble in subsequent finishing steps. And "IOU" is better than...bad language... ;)

I have decided to live with it the way it is. For some reason my test pieces did not stain nearly as well as the actual box. I was hoping for a bit more red (red mahogany stain on some fairly red lyptus), but I can't be choosy at this point.

There is a banquet Friday that the memory box is to be displayed at. I think it will be OK (and if I change my mind I will easily be able to finish it properly afterwards). I really need to avoid the IOU if I can. Everyone else will have store-bought boxes, mine will be a little extra special (or so I hope)

This is good to know for future projects anyway. I have stain left over and like how it looks.

I let the stain dry a couple days and then tried some shellac (out of a can). I couldn't resist going over areas that I had already done, plus there were lots of drips. Most of the ugly spots don't show, however, and those that do I will work on later, for now the show must go on (in 3 hours). I obviously have a lot to learn about finishing, but despite the problems, I am happy with it and, more importantly, my daughter is happy. I'm sure this will be the only memory box that was built from scratch.

My wife did a good job of filling it. There is black velvet wrapped around cardboard (from my jointer box). No glue or tape required to keep it in. I'd do a few things differently if I were to do it again, but the whole thing has been meant to be a learning experience.

I noticed that the shellac lightened the stain and brought out the pink color from the lyptus. Not what I expected or thought I wanted, but it works.

Thanks for the advice (above and a PM or two). Can't wait to start a new project (actually it is already built, needs to be sanded, glued and finished, but the finish will be a challenge, but that will be another post)

for other pics, see the Using lyptus thread in the General Woodworking Area.
http://img103.echo.cx/img103/4420/membox2nr.jpg