It’s common to be instructed to apply a finish in the direction of the grain, called “with the grain.” Doing this is usually best when brushing a finish, but it’s rarely necessary when wiping or spraying a finish. Brushing with the grain is best because the grain will...
The easiest way to stain lighter-colored sapwood so it blends with the heartwood is to stain all the wood with a dye stain, as is shown on the right side of the accompanying picture of walnut. Dye is much more effective than pigment, or any commercial stain that...
To achieve an even coloring with darker colored woods, it’s always best to use only heartwood to begin with. But this isn’t always possible. So you may want to “equalize” the coloring of the sapwood and heartwood. One method is to bleach the wood using two-part bleach...
Pine is often stained to make it resemble a higher quality wood such as walnut, cherry or mahogany. You need to be aware, however, that the staining reverses the grain color, making what was the lighter-colored grain now the darker-colored grain. This happens because...
There are two broad categories of stain: dye that is dissolved in a liquid, and dye and/or pigment combined with a binder. The first are usually called “dye” stains and are sold either as powders for you to do the dissolving, or are already dissolved in a liquid...
Matching colors is one of the most difficult tasks in wood finishing. Using just a stain rarely works well because the color on the object you’re trying to match is affected by how the wood and finish have aged. The best way to match a color is usually to get the...
The difference between a dye and a pigment is that dye dissolves in a liquid and pigment doesn’t. Therefore, dye doesn’t settle in a can or jar, but pigment does and has to be stirred back into suspension before using. Dyes are available in powder and liquid form. If...
There are two types of watermarks on furniture: white and black. White marks are in the finish and can usually be removed by rubbing with an abrasive. Black marks are stains in the wood and can usually be removed with oxalic acid, but only after the finish has been...
Almost all old furniture is finished with either shellac or lacquer (shellac until the 1920s, lacquer since). Both of these finishes dissolve into a messy “gunk” when paint stripper is applied. On complex surfaces, such as turnings and carvings, an easy way to remove...
Unlike oil stains, water-based stains and lacquer stains dry very fast. On large or complex surfaces you may have trouble getting the excess stain wiped off before it dries. If this happens, you’ll be left with streaks like those shown in the accompanying picture. If...
