Using Wood Stains and General Finishing
Posted: Wed 17 Nov, 2021 4:49 pm
As I haven't any work on at the moment, I thought I would open a discussion on using wood stains and other finishing techniques.
There are many experienced framers on this forum who use acrylic and household paints to achieve their own patented effects but I am going to go back to 1st principles in explaining what wood stains are and how best to use them.
The first thing to know is that a wood stain is a wood dye. Depending on the shade chosen, it will colour the wood to either resemble a particular species or to enhance the colour of a timber already matched.
So for framing we can select two timbers best suited to hand finishing - obeche and oak.
With obeche you can stain to resemble either mahogany or walnut. With oak the colour is either light oak, golden oak or dark oak.
You will see lots of reference to spirit wood stains in all sorts of colours - don't go there!
The most versatile stains are water stains and you only need 5 colours. To choose a colour is first to know who to buy it from. When a company offers say mahogany on their range, that is only their version of mahogany. For best results it is better to buy from a specialist wood finishing supplier who counterintuitively only offers a limited palette of colours like Fiddes Light Fast or Bolgers ( E-bay )
The colours to buy are Fiddes - Yellow, Mahogany, Walnut and Med Oak.
Cheaper to buy are Bolgers on E bay - Yellow, Rich Mahogany, Walnut and Golden Oak
The final and most important colour to buy is some Van Dyke crystals. These come as described as dry crystals which dissolve readily on hot water. Dissolve enough to make a very dark brown stain.
Now to mix the stain. Fill 1/2 cup of clean water into a small bowl. Dip the brush into some of the Walnut stain and stir it into the water. Puddle some out onto a bit of obeche and test for strength,
Too light - add more stain
Too dark - add more water.
When satisfied with the walnut colour, add a little mahogany to warm up the colour.
Finally stir in a little Van Dyke stain. This will have the effect of giving the stain an antique tone.
Keep mixing until a good colour is obtained. If it goes wrong, just pour it away and start again.
Next is to apply it to the frame. Brush the stain on liberally, flooding it over all the frame. Leave it for 30sec and then wipe it away with a cotton cloth.
After being left to dry, repeat the application. If the colour appears too weak - repeat again but if the staining is too dark, wipe it off with clean water and add a further coat.
The frame should now be left to dry out fully and on my next post I will explain the next steps in obtaining a fine wood finish.
There are many experienced framers on this forum who use acrylic and household paints to achieve their own patented effects but I am going to go back to 1st principles in explaining what wood stains are and how best to use them.
The first thing to know is that a wood stain is a wood dye. Depending on the shade chosen, it will colour the wood to either resemble a particular species or to enhance the colour of a timber already matched.
So for framing we can select two timbers best suited to hand finishing - obeche and oak.
With obeche you can stain to resemble either mahogany or walnut. With oak the colour is either light oak, golden oak or dark oak.
You will see lots of reference to spirit wood stains in all sorts of colours - don't go there!
The most versatile stains are water stains and you only need 5 colours. To choose a colour is first to know who to buy it from. When a company offers say mahogany on their range, that is only their version of mahogany. For best results it is better to buy from a specialist wood finishing supplier who counterintuitively only offers a limited palette of colours like Fiddes Light Fast or Bolgers ( E-bay )
The colours to buy are Fiddes - Yellow, Mahogany, Walnut and Med Oak.
Cheaper to buy are Bolgers on E bay - Yellow, Rich Mahogany, Walnut and Golden Oak
The final and most important colour to buy is some Van Dyke crystals. These come as described as dry crystals which dissolve readily on hot water. Dissolve enough to make a very dark brown stain.
Now to mix the stain. Fill 1/2 cup of clean water into a small bowl. Dip the brush into some of the Walnut stain and stir it into the water. Puddle some out onto a bit of obeche and test for strength,
Too light - add more stain
Too dark - add more water.
When satisfied with the walnut colour, add a little mahogany to warm up the colour.
Finally stir in a little Van Dyke stain. This will have the effect of giving the stain an antique tone.
Keep mixing until a good colour is obtained. If it goes wrong, just pour it away and start again.
Next is to apply it to the frame. Brush the stain on liberally, flooding it over all the frame. Leave it for 30sec and then wipe it away with a cotton cloth.
After being left to dry, repeat the application. If the colour appears too weak - repeat again but if the staining is too dark, wipe it off with clean water and add a further coat.
The frame should now be left to dry out fully and on my next post I will explain the next steps in obtaining a fine wood finish.