Replies

1. 
   Sgian_Dubh | Jul 21, 2000 06:41am | #1

   *
   Big subject my friend. There are plenty of discussions on this- and similar topics already. Try the
   b Search
   button at the top of the screen and punch in "Finishing Cherry," and ask the search facility to search the "whole site."

   Anyway, briefly, the staining and finishing is really all part of the same process, and much depends on the desired final appearance. Certain timbers, pine being one, have a tendency to 'blotch' which many people find unsightly; it depends on the person of course. To achieve an even colour in pine, and other timbers that blotch the general idea is to prevent the stain taking too firm a grip, and then add your polish to that bottom layer of stain.

   Three approaches are typical.
   *1 First seal the timber with a clear polish such as bleached shellac or pre-cat lacquer, and then add the colour to subsequent coats. You can use dye stain, or pigment stain, or both at the latter stages, and I think of this process as adding thin layers of paint that rather hide the grain, although it's often given the elevatingly fancy name of 'glazing.'
   *2 Use a stain that has little penetrative power, such as a gel stain. You can keep building up colour and polish with this. Gel stains are- as before, thin paint; that is dye stain with some added insoluble grains of colour that are the pigment.
   *3 Use a dye stain, but its solvent is something that flashes off very quickly, e.g., lacquer thinnner. The technique here is to 'mist' the stain on with a spray gun. This way it has little time to penetrate the grain, and the colour is very much on the surface as with the other two techniques, but it occludes the grain very little.

   In all of the above, the stains and polishes must be compatible. You can't mix oil stains with water stains for example, but you can apply oil based polish/varnish over water based stains. Brush on oil finishes do not always rest easily with spirit based stains, but they- oil finishes, can be applied successfuly over spirit stains with a spray gun using the correct technique. One potential problem with all these techniques is that the stain is truly only 'skin deep' so that the slightest scratch might reveal the true colour of the timber below; a point worth thinking about.

   Okay, so why does pine 'blotch?' Pine in common with other timbers such as maple and cherry has very contrary grain. By that, I mean the grain often dips in and out very sharply from the surface, e.g., around knots. Where a lot of end grain is exposed, as around the aforementioned knots, stains and finishes are absorbed rapidly and very effectively producing a dark result which is markedly different to where the grain runs pretty much parallel with the surface.

   Reading between the lines, I suspect that approach 1 or 2 might be best for you, and a search as I suggested will surely yield a lot more information. I hope this at least helps a bit, but somehow I fear I may not have done. Sliante.

1. 
   rich_mich | Oct 07, 2000 04:34am | #2

   *what I would do is to finish the cherry naturally-that is let it darken with time-let its own natural color deveop. In order to make the finish even, I have used a diluted solution of hide glue prior to finishing. I sand the surface then apply a finish-viola-no blotches but will still darken with time.

1. 
   Howard_Acheson | Oct 07, 2000 10:46pm | #3

   *You better re-read the initial post, Rich. His amoire is made of pine, not cherry. He wants to stain it with a cherry stain.