Replies

1. 
   davamoore | Apr 08, 2003 10:03pm | #1

   Sailalex,

   Did the ash keys have endgrain showing?  If so, end grain generally soaks up loads of finish, like soda straws sucking up root beer and -- unlike the long grain -- the end result is that it always ends up darker, even if you use a light or nearly clear finish.  (As an experiment, you can brush plain water on end grain and long grain surfaces of a piece of scrap wood and note the difference.)

   If exposed endgrain, and not the finish, is the problem then the best option is to partially block the endgrain's ability to soak up finish.  This can be accomplished using a "size" (e.g., hide glue thinned with water, brushed on the endgrain only and allowed to dry), a 1# cut of shellac or sanding sealer.  All will partially to fully block the pores in the end grain, allowing less finish to be soaked up and disproportionately darkening that area.

   Note:  Always test your solution on a piece of scrap or an offcut of the same wood you're working with, so you know what's going to happen before you try it on your finished piece.  As one who's learned from experience, it's one thing to sand or strip finish or stain off long grain, but it's another thing altogether to try and get the finish out of endgrain!  That's like trying to suck dried cement back OUT of a straw!

   If endgrain soaking up the finish is NOT the problem, you could try a thinned wiping or gel varnish, or some type of sprayed-on finish for your piece.  They don't go on as thick, so you generally have more control over the color.  Of course, that also means you have to apply the finish more often, to end up with a total thickness equivalent to a brushed-on finish.

   Finally, Jeff Jewitt's "Great Wood Finishes" and Bob Flexner's "Understanding Wood Finishing" are both very good resource books.  Also, Jeff Jewitt's website, http://www.homesteadfinishing.com has loads of information, in article form and on the forums.

   Hope that helps,

   David

   "The world that was not made is not won by what is done" -- Mundaka Upanishad

1. 
   sailalex | Apr 09, 2003 12:40am | #2

   David, thanks a lot. It was end grain and I realized that it was soaking it up only after the "deed was done". Sealing it off should have been my approach. Thanks for the references also.

1. 
   davamoore | Apr 09, 2003 06:40pm | #3

   My pleasure... and just to restate something a few other folks have mentioned today on another thread, be sure to test things on a piece of scrap from the same boards you're using to make the furniture.  Just yesterday, doing a test on some end grain of a piece I'm working on, I found that -- in this case -- the end grain DIDN'T soak up much more stain than the long grain, so I didn't need to go through the sealing process.  When I applied the stain to the actual piece, the result was exactly as I'd hoped.

   David

   David"The world that was not made is not won by what is done" -- Mundaka Upanishad