Thoughts on wood stain?

I agree totally. I uised to think staining was a part of every project. Now I avoid it like the plague. I’d rather find a wood that is already the color I want, and not mess around with Mother Nature.

This weekend I’ve beem building a small bookcase for my office, and had to stain it to match the other furniture. I’m reminded all over again why I don’t stain much anymore. Uneven absorption, missed glue spots, etc., etc. Ugh!!!!

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

I tend to agree. I would rather use a combination of wood and finish to achieve the look I want. But finding matching woods can be difficult and if you need to color match an existing piece then you really need to look seriously at stain.

Another area I like the use of stain is in bringing out the grain in figured wood, especially maple.

Just my $0.02 worth.

-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.

Usually when you make something big you can afford to make it from “good” wood so you
will have to stain sometimes. Actually I never stain anything. I always use a water based dye.
I find that it soaks into the wood and doesn’t hide the figure at all.

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.