To stain or not to stain... that is the question....

[Brendan Plavis]

My question is, should I stain the desk that is just about finished(warmer weather has convinced me to finish her this evening...) Or should I just add a layer of poly? The desk is of pine, if that matters? And if stain, what would be a good complementing colour?

Thanks

[Van Huskey]

1. you may get better answers in the finishing forum

2. pine can be a PAIN to stain

3. it really is a personal thing, I prefer to use clear finishes when possible, keep in mine pine will darken with age.


I don't envy your position, if I remember correctly you don't have a ROS, which means lots and lots of elbow grease, but with poly you can stop at 180-220! Are you wiping the poly? Don't forget you need to sand in between poly coats, poly needs this to adhere properly.

[Eiji Fuller]

How about tone? Is that the question? I find toning easier.

[Brendan Plavis]

1. you may get better answers in the finishing forum

2. pine can be a PAIN to stain

3. it really is a personal thing, I prefer to use clear finishes when possible, keep in mine pine will darken with age.


I don't envy your position, if I remember correctly you don't have a ROS, which means lots and lots of elbow grease, but with poly you can stop at 180-220! Are you wiping the poly? Don't forget you need to sand in between poly coats, poly needs this to adhere properly.

I have a belt sander.... nice and quick

I previously stained it, now I cannot get the stain off the little lip.... so I think I will have to restain.... grr...

Ill post in a little while the colours I have, perhaps someone can recommend a good mix...

Theres a finishing forum here? I never realized that... opps..

[Van Huskey]

I have a belt sander.... nice and quick

Also the worst possible sander for finish sanding, a belt sander is for rough dimensioning and has the nickname of "project wreaker" for a good reason. You need something for finish sanding and without buying another tools you will have to do a bunch of it by hand, otherwise there is no way to get a quality surface to finish. Also be aware that pine and abrasives do not play well together and will take more sheet changes and/or careful attention to cleaning the abrasives.

[Brendan Plavis]

Only a few gouges.... I make sure only to run it quickly over, never hover....

But yea... I concur... if I felt like buying another tool, it would be a ROS for sure....

The stains I have, are Golden Oak, and In...something Pine

[David Winer]

Pine has two types of absorption in the growth rings. The soft stuff slurps up stain, while the harder parts of the figure almost seem to repel stain. Very tricky to achieve a uniform effect. I have heard of (and tried with a little success) applying a first coat of penetrating resin such as Watco to seal the grain before staining. I would definitely experiment on some of your off-cuts before committing to anything involving stain on pine.

[Brendan Plavis]

I did a small experiment on what I was using as a sliding table for my BS, mixing some stains together... the effect would be the same on Ply, right? Cuz thats what the sliding table is made out of....