Replies

1. 
   JerBear | Dec 26, 2003 04:16pm | #1

   I'm a little unclear about what was sanded out and what was not.  Is this a new table you made or are you refinishing just the top?  Did you resand the entire surface?  If you only resanded the spots, the wood is going to take the stain at a different volume than the surrounding area since the surrounding area is already sealed thus coloring it differently.  If you indeed did resand the entire surface and the wood was all fresh and the stain was all the same, perhaps it wasn't sanded to the same surface grit as the rest, that's important.  If you only sanded the spots, I suggest carefully coloring it in with an artists brush and blending in the outer areas of the spot.  Surely there are past articles in FWW about doing this.  Most any book on furniture repair will go through these steps.

1. 
   2002sheds | Dec 26, 2003 07:30pm | #2

   Hi Jer,

   Thanks for the reply. It is a new table, although it has been stored for over a year unfinished. I sanded the entire top with 120 grit- the same that I used on the spots, before staining. I checked again this morning, and still see differences in appearance of those areas that I sanded and repaired from some angles. From straight down, the color of the repaired areas blends into the rest just fine.

   I am planning on using satin wipe-on poly as a topcoat. Is there a chance that the solvent in the poly will cause some of this to blend together?

   I'll also check in any books I have, but haven't seen this particular description yet.

   Thanks,

   Two Sheds

2. 
   PlaneWood | Dec 27, 2003 07:20am | #3

   I rarely use Minwax stains cause they have sealers that make 2nd coats impossible.

   PlaneWood by Mike_in_Katy (maker of fine sawdust!)
   PlaneWood

1. 
   Sphere | Dec 28, 2003 03:43am | #7

   Where did you hear that?..They (Minwax) recommend 2 coats. Please do not mislead the guy.

1. 
   PlaneWood | Dec 28, 2003 05:18am | #8

   It also says "Do not sand between coats of stain".

   That's one reason why I don't like the stuff.  I had so many bad experiences with Minwax that I quit buying it years ago.  Plenty of better alternatives out there, in my opinion (obviously). 

   My favorite stains are the Old Masters brands. They penetrate well and don't contain sealers.

   PlaneWood by Mike_in_Katy (maker of fine sawdust!)PlaneWood

1. 
   Elcoholic | Dec 30, 2003 02:54am | #9

   Try wet sanding a second coat of stain on the whole top with 320 or 400 grit.  It'll even even-out lap marks.John O'Connell - JKO Handcrafted Woodworking

   Life is tough.  It's tougher if you're stupid - John Wayne

1. 
   PlaneWood | Dec 30, 2003 04:23am | #10

   ??huh??

   PlaneWood by Mike_in_Katy (maker of fine sawdust!)PlaneWood

2. 
   Elcoholic | Dec 30, 2003 07:27pm | #11

   I'm not sure if I can make it clearer but here goes.  A trick I've picked up to even out and accenuate the grain in open grain woods without over-darkening the whole piece is wet sanding.  What's happening with this piece is that the oil carrier has penetrated the wood and sealed it beyond the depth of the sanding.  The pigment lays on top and is easily sanded off.  By lubricating 320 or 400 with more stain the harder wood is stained but a much of the larger pigment particals are abraded off while the resulting stain/oil slurry tends to fill the the open grain.  The result is that the figure is highlighted while the harder wood is evened out.  If there's a lot of flake it will really bring it out.  You really have nothing to loose, if you don't like the effect you're right back where you are now - deeper sanding.John O'Connell - JKO Handcrafted Woodworking

   Life is tough.  It's tougher if you're stupid - John Wayne

3. 
   PlaneWood | Dec 30, 2003 10:20pm | #12

   John - I understand that, but what's that got to do with MinWax stains??

   PlaneWood by Mike_in_Katy (maker of fine sawdust!)PlaneWood

4. 
   Elcoholic | Dec 30, 2003 11:41pm | #13

   It sounded like the problem was a combination of sanding out the the gouges and oil based stain in general, not necessarily just Minwax stain.  The only thing I've found that's harder to do touch-ups with than oil based stain is Woodkote gel stain.  My thought that wet sanding with stain might blend the repairs without having to sand the whole top down to virgin wood. John O'Connell - JKO Handcrafted Woodworking

   Life is tough.  It's tougher if you're stupid - John Wayne

3. 
   Kevin | Dec 27, 2003 09:24am | #4

   Oil finishes don't redissolve once they're set up. Which is to say that it's not soluable once it's dry. That's why sanding thru in spots doesn't blend back in when you reapply the oil. I would suggest completely stripping the whole surface where the problem areas are in. In other words... if it's just on the top that you're having the problem with and the edges/sides are fine... just strip the top and reapply the oil to the entire top. There would still be a slight difference between the reoiled surface and the other existing oiled surfaces. But, the naked eye won't be able to spot it. You can see the difference right now because there's no obvious break to distract the eye.

   In my experience, even with soluable finishes it is frequently better to strip and restain an entire surface because it can be difficult to get even a soluable stain to blend in right when just doing spot repairs.

   Regards,

   Kevin

   The Independent Voter.com

   "Rather fail with honor than succeed by fraud" - Sophocles.

4. 
   TomT226 | Dec 27, 2003 05:12pm | #5

   Wipe it down with mineral spirits. Get as much as you can off, rub it dry, then re-apply a coat of stain following the directions. I always use mineral spirits to even out oil stains.

1. 
   Sphere | Dec 28, 2003 03:34am | #6

   What he said. No problem.