Replies

1. 
   SARGEgrinder47 | Oct 01, 2008 03:36pm | #1

   It's a personal thing. There are an abundance of stains in various colors out there. If you are using pine I would use gel-stain in a color I felt suitable to my taste after raising the grain with distilled water and then sanding. The gel-stain applied less blotchy than oil stain on woods such as pine which are blotch prone.

   Sarge..

1. 
   sholstein | Oct 04, 2008 02:11am | #10

   Thanks, I'll try that on a few test pieces of wood.

1. 
   SARGEgrinder47 | Oct 04, 2008 02:47am | #13

   As others metioned use a sanding sealer or the de-waxed shellac first and that will put you in better position. It must be de-waxed though as you don't use regular waxed shellac and then an oil base over it.

   Good luck...

   Sarge..

2. 
   AB | Oct 01, 2008 04:13pm | #2

   First use a thin coat of dewaxed shellac. A hardware store brand such as Zinsers is fine. This will reduce the blotchiness. Then stain away.

3. 
   WillGeorge | Oct 01, 2008 10:57pm | #3

   AB said... First use a thin coat of dewaxed shellac. YES and another YES.

   As it all depends on how 'YOU' like it to look. It is a very hard question to answer..

   For some things,  I use Minwax water based wood stain. So called Decorator Tint Formula.. When finished it looks sort of like Milk Paint...

   Old saying.. 'Try it, you will like it'? Maybe...

4. 
   andyfew322 | Oct 02, 2008 12:21am | #4

   for a dark stain on pine i use provintial 211 w/ 2 coats (minwax), and 2 coats of poly

    

   I'm just sayin'

1. 
   sholstein | Oct 04, 2008 02:13am | #11

   That's actually what I'm looking for is a dark stain, but not so dark that the knots and grain are barely visible. Thanks.

1. 
   andyfew322 | Oct 04, 2008 05:09am | #16

   go to a store that sells stain, there they might have a thing w/ different peices of wood with different stains 

   I'm just sayin'

1. 
   dowelman | Oct 04, 2008 05:35am | #17

   I normally go for the "honey pine" look and here is how I achieve it:1. Seal entire piece with "spit coat" of sealer (your choice ie. shellac, or lacquer sealer) 2. Mix burnt umber pigment with mineral spirits or turpentine, experiment to get the right mix.3. Apply a light coat of stain and wipe with a cloth to get an even look.4. Repeat step 1.5. If color is not dark enough, repeat steps 3, 16. Top coat with your choice of finishes.Here is a pic of a harvest table I made for a client using the exact
   method listed here.Mike

   
5. 
   Bonka | Oct 02, 2008 04:07am | #5

   To keep pine from blotching I use thinned hide glue as a sizing.  Let it dry 24 hours then lightly sand with 320 grit.

   I was amazed at the uniformity of color the first time I did it.

1. 
   WillGeorge | Oct 03, 2008 01:28am | #6

   I realize this is a hard to answer question but how thin do you cut the glue?

1. 
   Bonka | Oct 03, 2008 03:41am | #7

   I added about 3-4 times more water to it.  Take a look Highland Woodworking. In their online catalog I think they have it premixed and it is a Tightbond product.  I used it once and it saved me lots of trouble and was spot on.

   Let me know how it works for you.

1. 
   WillGeorge | Oct 03, 2008 07:35pm | #8

   Thanks.. I,ll look at the info at Highland.

1. 
   Ron01960 | Oct 04, 2008 01:59am | #9

   I am working on a 1720's eastern white drop leaf table that was 70% stripped several decades ago. I was asked to make it look like it was.Clearly milk paint a reddish light mahogany color with a light yellow under coat.They also have a early 1700's 5 board pine chest. Its quite large. Its painted to look like flame mahogany on the end boards. If you try yours this way and it looks good I will send you mine to do, OK!.Good luckRon

2. 
   sholstein | Oct 04, 2008 02:17am | #12

   Hardly! But it does sound interesting.

6. 
   Tony Z | Oct 04, 2008 03:02am | #14

   If I'm not mistaken, Michael Dunbar suggested using a very strong cup of tea as a method of giving pine an "aged" look without blotching.  I beleive you are to give the pine several coats, and top with a shellac.

   Haven't tried, and forget what mag I read this in.  I am going to try this on cherry and hope for the same non-blotching result.

   T.Z.

1. 
   Barnhouse | Oct 04, 2008 05:04am | #15

   The Dunbar article is from FWW 182 where he made a yellow birch birch pie safe and used the tea as a dye to even out the color between the heartwood and sapwood.