Prestain

[Dr. Deb]

I am getting ready to stain a large project and just realized I may well not have enough Minwax wood treatment to pretreat all the pine on the project. It being 30 miles into town and remembering reading somewhere that you could mix your own, does anyone have the mixing instructions/recipe?

Thanks

Deb

[nailshooter41]

You are getting ready to pour gas on yourself and start playing with lit matches.

I never understand these things... you are going to finish a project (probably some type of furniture) that you have spent money on materials, tools, and all of your time completing and you are worried about a 45 minute trip to town for some cheap insurance?

Here's the deal: Not all conditioners are alike or are even made for the same thing. Proper use of a good conditioner takes good scheduling skills and some practice if it is indeed a "large project". Why take a chance on an ersatz conditioner? And I hope you weren't thinking of using the Minwax until you ran out then starting with your homebrew...

Here's the old school conditioner for oil based stains: 1 1/2 cups FRESH (not that crap at the bottom of the cabinet that smells like rancid nuts) in a clean (as in brand new) gallon of mineral spirits.

Apply to the surfaces liberally and keep the surface wet, touching up the dry areas by applying more brew. After about 10 - 15 minutes (less if hot, more if cold) wipe it all off. Stain within as soon as possible, certainly within a half hour, noting how long you went from application of homebrew to staining. Use that number to time your applications on the rest of the project. Don't get ahead of yourself and seal your whole piece.

Water based stain conditioner: Mix white (NOT carpenter's glue) 50/50 with distilled water. Apply liberally, wait about 10 minutes and wipe down your surfaces to remove any excess. Start your staining within 20 minutes, and write down your exact times as above.

This is a well known recipe for "glue sealer", but since I have not used any of the water based staining agents, I don't know how well it works.

Although they say you can use water based conditioner under oil based stain, I wouldn't. I have seen stain lift that water based sealer stuff right up. Use the BLO/mineral spirits for oil based, and the white glue for water based and don't cross them up.

If it were me, I would go buy more manufactured product and hang on to the receipt for possible return. By the time you mix this stuff up and PRACTICE ON YOUR SCRAPS WITH IT, you would be better off with something you are familiar with.

If this is a large project, make sure you are organized with all your implements and applicators at hand. Timing is important when applying color because when all other things are equal, the amount of coloration is determined by time on target.

If you haven't bought your stain yet, you might want to try some of the gel stains that are out there as they don't blotch nearly as much as a regular stain.

Good luck!

As always, just my 0.02.

Robert

[J. Clarke]

I think you left an important word out of this sentence. FRESH _what_?

[Swingman]

IME, it's hit or miss with a pre-treatment when _attempting_ to stain pine. The old standby "pre-coat" on pine was a brushed on, 1# cut of shellac, but good luck with that as it still may not prevent blotches, depending upon the amount of old/new wood on the board.

The absolute best chance of success when using a stain on pine is to go with a Gel stain ... bar none.

[Dr. Deb]

Thanks to all, especially Nailshooter. It is so nice to have a place to go for advice when you need it. It looks like I will be making a trip into town. :-). I had some gel stain, but not enough to do the project and was going to use some liquid I had here. But you are right, might as well do it right.

Thanks again

Deb

[nailshooter41]

Thanks, John. I was obviously whacking away on the keyboard and the ALL CAPS threw me off. It doesn't take much sometimes.

Fresh BLO, boiled linseed oil.

Robert

[cavelamb himself]

OK, What's a gell stain?

[Leon]

It is a stain in "Gel" form.

[cavelamb himself]

Cool. There are even suppliers nearby.

I asked because I just ripped up a few pine 2x4s to make another treasure chest... A little bigger this time.

Thanks.

Richard