Staining Pine

[Bill]

I am in the process of staining a pine baseboard to match what is there. It is a rather dark color . This may take the rest of my life.

Is there some trick to get the stain the build up quicker? I did pre-treat the wood .

Thanks in advance

Bill

[SonomaProducts.com]

One could simply say use a darker stain.

Another trick is to not sand to too high of a grit. Sanded to 150 will stain much darker than sanded to 320. You can always add a top coat and sand that flat later.

Finally, Pine will usually yellow somewhat over time from exposure to sun, this can make thing slook significantly darker. A day or two in the sun will speed that along. However, some pine whites out too so you have to be careful with the sun and test it first.

BW

[George]

Use a gel stain or a stain/finish combo. There's a limit to how many pigment particles can stick to a surface (or angels and pins) unless the pigment is in a curing vehicle.

[David]

What BW said, and/or add dye to the top coats.

Dave

Bill wrote:

[Tom Watson]

Pine is notorious for absorbing stain quickly and absorbing it unevenly.

If you want a dark and even stain, I would allow the current concoction to dry thoroughly and then seal it with a couple of coats of three pound cut blonde shellac.

My guess is that you have been using either a pigment stain or a combination pigment and dye stain, such as Minwax.

Once the current job is sealed with the shellac, I would apply a dye stain. If you have the ability to spray, it will go on more quickly and more evenly but the same finish can be achieved with a careful brush.

Dye stains allow you much more control over the color and degree of opacity.

Check out Jeff Jewitt's website.

Tom Watson - WoodDorker tjwatson1ATcomcastDOTnet (email)

(website)

[Bill]

I am using a Minwax Gel Stain 'cause it seemed to match at the time.

Thanks for the tips.