Ok . First let me say that it looks like me and Minwax have now parted company. So please no bad mouthing :) Problem I have is spots of stain coming to the surface while drying. Applied stain on red oak...allowed to soak about 15 minutes....wiped off excess....wood at 70 and so is ambient air (dry)....spots seem to come out in grain areas. Not the first time this has happened. Need to finish pieces any suggestions? Varathane?? Covering with shellac
"Lee" wrote in news:V7hlh.381$ snipped-for-privacy@newsreading01.news.tds.net:
Characteristic of Red Oak. The grain is essentiually tubular, and these types of finishes will leach back for some time, until they cure and/or stop.
Not only have I stoppped using most Minwax products, I've cut back on red oak as well. Not enough time to baby sit every stage of the finish process.
Good luck.
Patriarch
I have to say that the leaching can be a problem with Red Oak but "it is" the stain you use thace contrubutes to that. I have never had it leach on Oak except when using Minwax. I do not have that problem with Zar, Bartleys, or General Finishes stains.
I have used Varathane also with good luck however it is not at the WW stores that I go to and typically I do not go to the home center to buy stain. The Varathane gel stains work nicely.
The grain of oak has large capillaries that "suck" stain into them. The stain in the capillaries drys a lot slower that on the surface. Wipe the wet stain off the surface and the stain in the capillaries will seep out . Minwax stains don't have a thing to do with the problem. Any low viscosity and slower drying stain will migrate deeper into the capillaries, thus a bigger problem.
Solution: Wipe the excess stain off untill it dries in the cappilaries; or use thicker bodied stain; or faster drying stains like alcohol dyes.
I think you owe Minwax an apology.
Jim in the now brown Bluegrass
"Leon" wrote in news:f2nlh.13648$ snipped-for-privacy@newssvr23.news.prodigy.net:
Varathane stains (soy oil-based, as I recall) have many of the same problems as Minwax with red oak, in my short experience with them. They are less viscous than Minwax, and flow more easily. They also leach back more easily.
Maybe I just got a bunch of really bad red oak.
Leon's suggestion of a gel stain makes a lot of sense.
Patriarch
I disagree categorically that the problem is related to the manufacturer of the finish/stain, whoever it may be, but is instead owing to the open grain of (particularly red) oak. Other oaks, ash, even walnut, any ring-porous wood has the same characteristic to a greater or lesser degree.
The solution is to use either a sanding sealer or grain filler before applying the stain or an rubbing oil-type finish to close the pores.
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