I have routed an ogee on the end grain of a current project. The wood is red oak and the stain will be in the “fruitwood” shade. I know I’ve read about a technique for prepairing end grain prior to staining so that it will not turn out much darker than the long grain, but the details elude me. Does this ring a bell with anyone?
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Replies
Seal it with something before staining. Many people use shellac, but you can use a diluted coat of whatever clear basecoat will be going on afterwards.
DR
I've had luck in the past sanding the end grain to 2-3 higher levels (finer paper) than the rest of the project, but not always experiment.
Steve
I agree, but in my experience the oak he was asking about is so porous that it isn't enough. No amount of sanding will close it up enough.DR
Ditto on the pre-sealing. Red oak has a pretty rough end grain and it can really suck up the stain. You should also sand it as smooth as you can before you stain - it makes a big difference.
If you can, run some samples on scrap wood to work out your technique.
Besides sealing, try a gel stain. It penetrates less.
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