Uneven staining in mystery hardwood

[Clay Parrish]

I am refinishing a handle for a Goodell Pratt hand drill. It was previously stained maroon and varnished. I sanded it back pretty near to bare wood all over (just some pinkish staining) and down to bare wood on other parts.

I sanded to 400 grit and applied two coats of rustoleum ultimate dark walnut, but the spots where I had it down to bare wood are staying lighter than I want. Any suggestions? I ultimately want to put a poly finish over the stain, but I would like to even out the brown a little first.

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[John TenEyck]

Looks pretty good to me; it is a tool handle after all. But I think the problem was that even though you sanded it you didn't get the old stain out of the pores. Plus you sanded it to 400 grit. Combined, there was no place for the stain to get into.

I think you should strip it off with a chemical stripper like KleanStrip Premium, resand it no finer than 180 grit, and then stain it again. Of use a dye first to give it some background color and then the stain.

John

[Gerry Grzadzinski]

Your stain is getting into the endgrain pores where it's darker. stain contains solid pigments which provide the color, and there's no place for the pigments to go on the lighter areas.