Different Wood Finishes/Stains on Same Wood Help!

[James Farrow]

A few of you may recall that I do pyrography (wood burning). I did some birds of prey so far and they look fine. At least that's what everyone says (hopefully they are not just being polite - LOL!).

Anyway, I have been playing around with trying to use different finishes on the same work. Trying to use a darker finish in certain areas to darken, say, some feathers and not others. But am running into the problem of the finishes bleeding into areas that I don't want them to bleed into.

Is there anyway to solve this problem? I have had some success with cutting (with an exacto knife) around the area that I want to darken and that helps somewhat but you can only cut down so far.

Is there any other method(s) I can try or am I at the mercy of the absorbancy of the wood?

Thanks,

James

[Steve Schoene]

You might apply the color as a glaze rather than as a stain. That is first seal the work, and then apply tinted finish in the areas you need. Shellac might make a good vehicle for this. You can add either a dye or a pigment.

[James Farrow]

Thanks!

Will experiment and see who it looks.

James