I've seen archive posts refering to a minimum temperature of 60F for applying indoor stain (and poly?), but the new can of Minwax oil-based stain that I have makes no mention of _any_ temperature. And the first coat on my poplar plant stand went well, in my 50F garage.
So, what would I be risking if I put another coat on (temp. might now be near 40F) and poly after that? I have no place in the house where I could isolate the smell to take advantage of the heat.
Mike
I've finished things at lower temperatures, with pretty much the same kind of stuff (minwax and varathane pro) but be prepared for looong drying times. Especially for the minwax. Weeks. Worked OK for me, but you should probably test it out first yourself.
"Oh" (I hear you say> I've seen archive posts refering to a minimum temperature of 60F for
I've been finishing some small pieces in my cold garage. I shine a two-fixture halogen work light on them to keep them warm and speed drying.
Cold basement here - a radiant heater works well, as do a couple incandescent lights if it's a relatively enclosed space. Andy
I've had bad results with trying to speed-up (specifically) minwax with light bulbs, heat guns or quartz heaters.
What happens is that some of the stain gets into the pores, and the little bit of extra heat makes the more volitile oils (which are still inside the pores unevaporated even if they're gone on the surface) bubble stain to the surface and it looks like someone did some shotgun distressing. The effect is most pronounced on red oak (which has some pretty unbelievable pore action) but can be seen on maple as well.
Minwax is actually pretty tough stuff when it (finally) dries, so good luck getting those little dots off the thing.
Also, the paternalistic warn> I've been finishing some small pieces in my cold garage. I shine a
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