Polyshades anyone?

I tried Polyshade about two years ago and never got it to work. Could not get the color and the poly to cooperate. The more I brushed to even the color the more it separated. Finally sanded it down and used a separate stain and poly.

BTW – I working on a poplar music box that I want to stain a dark red mahogany color. Tried Minwax and could not get an even color. I’m now using TransTint Dyes red mahogany. I put a few drops in about an ounce of shellac as a sealer. After that dried I rubbed in full strength dye on top ( I wanted it dark ). It is working for me. BTW – the dye is crazy expensive $17 for 2 ounces. Might be too expensive for a large project that you want really dark.

-- Leon -- Houston, TX - " I create all my own designs and it looks like it "

Don’t do it! I think I used it Bombay Mahogany for this project: http://lumberjocks.com/projects/1333

It was awful to use with bad color penetration and with having to use multiple coats it’s very hard to deal with getting an even color.

Just my experience.

-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)

I have used PolyShades successfully once, and only once. I made 2 poplar high top tables for a client. It took a week of application, sanding, apply some more, sand it off, go for a beer, apply again…

10 coats plus 3 top coats of high gloss poly to protect it. Never will I use this product again.

-- The only easy wood project is a fire

Dave,
Here is a link to Jeff Jewitt’s website page on colorants. You might want to try Transtints padded on in denatured alcohol, or added to a topcoat. There is also FAQs about dyes, UTCs and all sorts of information about staining and dyeing.

Just be sure to do test blocks in the same wood as the project, all the way through to final finish before committing to the final process on your own work.

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

David,
For Gods sake man, NO POLYSHADES! There are much better products out there that will assist well in the finishing department. Take a look at Waterlox or Arm-R-Seal.

-- Jeff, Indiana

I agree with everyone. Run away. Run away.

Oh, I guess the product is okay for a utility piece that you’re doing fast and dirty and you don’t really care a whole lot how it looks. Utility shelves in the garage, a picnic table, dog house . . . but otherwise, you better be happy with what you see in the first stroke or two. The minute you try to go back for the third stroke and try to “fix” a spot before it dries completely, you start going downhill into amazing frustratiion.

-- Paul, Texas

Are you sure you HAVE to stain these pieces? Cherry and Mahogany are SO beautiful when finished but not stained. My wife thought a cherry entertainment center I built was too light. I told just to wait a while. Now it is just a beautiful red/brown. She loves it! I wouldn’t stain those pieces if you can help it at all. I have used Bartley Gel stain very successfully, but it is hard to find. Their Gel Varnish works really well too.

As for Polyshades, I tried it once and didn’t like it at all. Good luck, let us know what you decide.

-- Mark

As far as Polyshades, I have used it to complete some trim out and an interior door and it works. It is not that predictable. If it were a project that I was solely responsible for, I would consider alternatives.

Whatever you decide to use, it is wise to have extra scrap wood to test the stain/finsihing on. It would be a shame to get all the cutting and assembly on a wood project completed and not get the finish just right.

You may also want to check out the Woodwhisperer’s site. He has some information about finishing – search “finishing”

Dalec

I’ve used polyshades a few times. Very tricky stuff. The first coat always looks uneven, but it improves with successive coats.

If I were you, I’d keep experimenting with mixing stains until I got the color I was looking for.

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"