Stain Penetration Problems

Did you try sanding the new wood?

There’s a possibility it has some sort of sealer to keep it show room fresh.

-- Dick Cain, Hibbing, MN. http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.com/gallery/member.php?uid=3627&protype=1

Dick yep couldn’t see any difference with straight out of the planer. I am going down and try sanding raw wood and see if not using planer makes a difference, that is the one thing that has changed . . . .

-- Fred, Springfield, Ma

Hi Fred,

Don’t sand the wood past 150 or 180 grit. You will end up burnishing the wood and it will limit its stain adsorption.

I really don’t know why you aren’t getting the color that you are after but I have used Minwax products for years. But it looks to me as if they have changed their formulation. I did the trim in my house 20 years ago with Early American and it was a pigmented stain. Now Minwax Early American is just an oil based stain without the pigment. On pine it tends to be more in the black range than a deep brown that I am looking for.

The other issue is that you are going to have trouble matching the woodwork that was done 20 years ago. The wood and finish (I am assuming that you used poly) have added a patina that only age will generate.

As a suggestion you may want to try a dye to match the color. Trans tint dyes aren’t too expensive and can be blended to achieve just about any color that you want.

Or if you want to stick with an oil base wiping stain then try another brand.

Hope this helps. I really don’t know what flavors that Minwax has discontinued so I am sorry that I can’t help you with that question.

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

something you have to keep in mind is that the color of the wood will change over the years, even if you have exposed it to light. Just oxidation changes the color of wood, even wood that is stained. Also soft woods absord stain differently than soft woods. If you are trying to stain pine (a soft wood) you’ll need to use a conditioner. This helps it absorb the color more evenly.

-- Joey, Magee, Ms http://woodnwaresms.com

Scott—have you tried the wood conditioner—it helps keep pine from getting greedy and soaking up too much stain . . . not that I am having THAT problem at the moment …

some of my stain is old, so not sure that formulation is causing problems.

I’ve also had success mixing stains (same brand) to achieve the color I was looking for

Ive never worked with dye, not sure this is the project to learn on :-/ do want to give it a go at some point.

does the planer tend to burnish and cause problems? I just bought the rigid thickness planer and love it so far. still learning what to expect . . .

-- Fred, Springfield, Ma

One other thing you might try, if you can’t get the wood to take a stain, is to color your finish, poly, varnish, etc.
Work with some scraps until you get the color you’re after, then put the finish on the windows. Since you won’t be wiping it off, what you see is what you get. You can use the Transtints, like Scott was talking about, or just mix some of your stains with the varnish or poly to get the color.

-- Tim -- http://tmuli.com

Joey—that I know and how! What is frustrating me most is I just did a test piece, with times from 5 to 20 minutes. when I wiped all taht was left is a faint pink I am beginning to think something some how got silicon on it

does anyone know if WD40 causes problems??? I use for cleaning followed by wax for protection.. I fear I may have used automotive paste on band saw at one point before I learned better 5 or 10 years ago—- and my test pieces were cut on the band saw . . .

-- Fred, Springfield, Ma

I think I have figured it out. the top piece is pine 5 minutes, 10, 15, 20 left to right for the sections
the wide piece is the material I was using for testing. despite the label that was on it I don’t think its pine.
the next piece is unstained, and the bottom piece is stained (5 minutes) with the colonial maple that the top piece is stained with

anyone have tips for reattaching hair???

thanx to all

-- Fred, Springfield, Ma

Looks like the bottom piece is sanded to a finer grit than the top.(?)

-- Tim -- http://tmuli.com

all four are 100 grit— I think the bottom 3 (which are cut from the same piece) are NOT pine, tho that is what the sticker said. wouldn’t take stain to save its self. I am not all that great at identifying wood. but would think hemlock or fir. spruce I recognize as most of our 2x stuff is spruce around here

I sure was getting upset. I thought this was supposed to be relaxing!

-- Fred, Springfield, Ma