What's the verdict on Chestnut spirit stains.

[Not your average framer]

I'm thinking of getting some Chestnut spirit stains to do a bit of finishing Ash, Oak and maybe even a bit of Pine, if it looks good on Pine. I'm not sure which colour will look best, any suggestion would be welcome. I'm also wondering what the opinion is on Chestnut stains. I currently use various colours of the Polyvine acrylic wax finish varnish, which I like very much and will still continue to use, but I am thinking about getting some chestnut stains as well.

Thanks in anticipation,
Mark.

[Steve N]

They are the my go to stain, they get right into the wood, I brush it on then go over with a rag/paper towel to smooth the colour out and get rid of any excess, I have used them mainly on oak, ash and obeche, I don't like using any stain on pine as you never know how the grain will react

All the wood colours are good, I have a load I'm wanting to get rid of, as I'm relocating, joining another framer, so it's a shared workspace, he dosen't do any hand finishing, and as it's a shared workspace, I don't want to get dust everywhare nor make a load of noise with the sander. So all my stains are going and so is my barewood moulding, if anybody wants any, £2.00 a lenght and £2.00 a bottle of stain, buyer collects

[Not your average framer]

I want to make a big thing about hardwoods and stained hardwoods as a shop window display in one of my shop windows. I got one old fashion window, which is going to be the shop window for really nice things and another window for everything else including ready made frames. I am thinking that the window for nice things, will include some samples of nice hardwood mouldings, including some nicely stained ones.

I am hoping that nice cllassy looking stained single mouldings and stacked moulding samples will generate, some useful business for me. It's not that difficult to stack stained mouldings together and hide the joins, if the mouldings are all stained the same colour and the whole profile is waxed, or varnished after joining the together. Even generously proportioned traditional pine mouldings can look amazing if they are big enough.

Stained and washed pine, goes down great around here. It's the old fashioned country look, that goes down so well in a the rural area around here. big stacked mouldings look geat in large country houses and there's plenty of those around here. Pine is not excessively expensive, but it's the extra work that you put into making it look great, that really makes the difference and adds the extra value.

[Justintime]

I've been using Chestnut stains since I started, but recently I've been encouraged by Dermot to use Van Dyke Crystals with Umbers etc, which I'm sure you're familiar with Mark.
I was satisfied with spirit stains but now I much prefer mixing the crystals and adding to get the colour I want. It's a lot more satisfying, feels like I'm actually crafting something.
The only downside I found with Chestnut is that if you want it darker, two coats is okay but the third coat moves and lifts a lot...

[Not your average framer]

Hi Steve,

I was wondering, if spirit stains work as well with pine, so thank's for that.

[Not your average framer]

Hi justin,

Yes, I have got Van Dyke Chrystals. Thy are very useful and really cheap too. Thanks for the advise about the third coat of the Chestnut stain lifting off. I think that's good enough reason to stick to the water based finishes that I am currently using.

[Steve N]

The only downside I found with Chestnut is that if you want it darker, two coats is okay but the third coat moves and lifts a lot...

I would agree, but you can mix them if you want a darker colour...................

[vintage frames]

'Nothing wrong with Chestnut stains. If that's the colour you want, then that's the colour you get. And as Steve N says, you can mix them.
But, ( there always is one ...)
You have no control over the colour and strength once it's on the wood. Mind you you could always slosh around with loads of meths, but you really don't want to be doing that.
Now with water stains you have complete control. Too light - add more stain, too dark - clean it up with some water. Mixing colours is easy on scrap pieces of timber.
For really authentic wood colours, I would recommend Fiddes Lightfast Stains. If you had Yellow Concentrate, Walnut, Red Mahogany, Medium Oak and Van Dyke crystals, then you have everything you need for at least 10 years.
And if you're worried that it will raise the grain, use some sandpaper first and get over it.

[Not your average framer]

I like the water based Polyvine stains that I use, but some of the colours from Chestnut are not available from Polyvine and if I don't need to put on more than one coat, I have some uses in mind for it. So' I am thinking that Chestnut is probably still worth trying anyway. Thank you every one for all your efforts and advice.

[Not your average framer]

I already stain oak mouldings with various of the Polyvine acrylic wax finish stain varnishes. They soak in well, cover quite evenly and it's a convenient one step complete finish. As you can probably already imagine, I like this very much, because it so simple, quich and easy. I cut the lenths of Oak a little longer that I need, stain them and then cut the to the finished size and then glue them and join them.

It pays not to glue and join them first, as any unwanted glue of the surface intended for staining seals the surface, prevents the stain from penetrating as ruins the stained finish. I like the Teak coloured Polyvine quite a lot! The darker browns are not quite so popular with the customers. Mahogany is not too bad, but it's a bit too red, so I usually mix it with something else to make it less red.

Getting a good result, when staining pine is a real pain! Pine does not stain well and I am yet to find a simple, quick and easy way to stain pine. I was thinking of re-visting spirit stains, to see if I can get a better result. At present, I pre-stain the pine with a mixture of water and emulsion paint, which I wipe off very quickly and before the emulsion paint and water can dry, I apply the Polyvine stain. This looks much more natural!

I'm not a fan of staining Obeche. I just don't like the look! I don't mind Obeche, but I mainly use it for painted finishes.