Hi Peter,
I live in BC where there is an abundance of good fir and birch. Because it is good ecology (and beautiful wood) I have decided to make most of my furniture from it.
I have mostly used linseed oil and varethane finishes but I would like to stain my next piece. It seems like every article I read in FWW favours a different method.
I tried a water base stain on both the fir and birch without shellac and it is very difficult to avoid blotches. It also dries very fast.
What do you think of this sequence? shellac sealer followed by light sanding, stain (water or oil?) followed by shellace again, followed by coats of varethane.
Replies
You live in a beautiful location.
Concerning finishing; FWW presents many different options when doing finishing articles. It tries to give you options as there is no "one" right way to do things.
When you used a water stain, which type? Was it a stain or a dye?
Using shellac as a wash coat is helpful in controlling the blotches you saw.
I would suggest SealCoat as your starting point. It is a dewaxed shellac. Try a few different dilutions as your starting point.
Try a 5050 mix (shellac denatured alcohol) on one sample
2575 on another and so on.
Apply the shellac washcoat to sample boards, let it dry and scuff with a fine paper like 320 if required. Apply your stain, let dry and then add a coat of shellac full strength. This will show you what your finished look will be.
Be sure and keep track of what you doing on your samples so you can replicate them.
Once you hit the recipe you like repeat it on your piece. Be sure and plan your work sequence.
Once the sealer of shellac is dry for at least a day, a few days is better, sand it as required with 2 or 320 paper, clean all the dust and you can apply the varethane topcoats.
Sorry for the delay in getting back to you.
Good luck.
Peter
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