# Make pine plywood look nice?



## LoganBC (Jul 16, 2011)

I have an entertainment center project commission that I am having trouble staining. The customer is not happy with examples of how A-C pine plywood takes a stain due to the large contrast in lights to darks. Obvious advice like not having made it out of plywood or at least not spiral cut plywood aside, what would fellow lumberjocks recommend in a finishing procedure? I have been researching tinted varnish but have little experience on the subject.

The customer wants something like a 'dark walnut' stain. I don't particularly care what products are used, but typically use oil-based stain and poly. I also do not think he is very particular about grain definition.

Thoughts and advice? I already tried to talk him into painting it 

Thanks,
Logan

To clarify, I have not stained it yet, but he wasn't happy with examples of stained scrap materials.


----------



## jutsFL (Nov 1, 2018)

I'm hoping for an answer as well. I have never had any sort of stain or color look well on any pine ply because of the massive resinous areas vs the thirsty portions. Even with the "best" pine ply… It still looks like Crap. The only thing that has ever looked "ok" in my book with it is many coats of BLO. Ive even tried multiple coats of BLO before adding tint to the BLO and finishing - just turned the "acceptable" BLO finish into complete trash…


----------



## Desert_Woodworker (Jan 28, 2015)

I hope you post your results and finished project


----------



## BFamous (Jan 26, 2018)

Have you tried a gel stain? They sit more on top of the wood than regular oil or water based stains and therefore may provide a more consistent color.

I'd take my scraps and test different combinations, but you should be able to get something decent.


----------



## AlaskaGuy (Jan 29, 2012)

Walnut veneer plywood will save you so much time and frustration it would be worth every penny and would look good when you done.

I don't understand why people buy the lightest colored woods when they want it dark. If this is a commission and you have to spend hours and hours trying get pine to look dark and good somebody is going to lose enough time or money to buy dark wood in the first place. Just MHO.

It take experience and talent to turn a sows ear into a silk purse


----------



## waho6o9 (May 6, 2011)

Test on scraps and use blotch control first, best of luck.


----------



## Desert_Woodworker (Jan 28, 2015)

> Walnut veneer plywood will save you so much time and frustration it would be worth every penny and would look good when you done.
> 
> I don t understand why people buy the lightest woods when they want it dark. If this is a commission and you have to spend hour and hour trying get pine to look dark and good somebody is going to lose enough time or money to but dark wood in the first place. Just MHO.
> 
> - AlaskaGuy


May I add, ALDER…


----------



## Desert_Woodworker (Jan 28, 2015)

> Test on scraps and use blotch control first, best of luck.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


+1


----------



## AlaskaGuy (Jan 29, 2012)

> Test on scraps and use blotch control first, best of luck.
> 
> - waho6o9
> 
> ...


I've use that product and it worked well for blotch but it makes it harder to get a dark color.


----------



## AlaskaGuy (Jan 29, 2012)

Desert_WoodWorker

This is what Alder stained dark looks like if you don't know what you are doing.


----------



## Desert_Woodworker (Jan 28, 2015)

> Test on scraps and use blotch control first, best of luck.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thanks for the advice- 
----------------------------
*
Anyone recall "pickled white….."*


----------



## AlaskaGuy (Jan 29, 2012)

> Test on scraps and use blotch control first, best of luck.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I'm I missing something. How does that fit in with "The customer wants something like a 'dark walnut' stain."


----------



## SMP (Aug 29, 2018)

> Walnut veneer plywood will save you so much time and frustration it would be worth every penny and would look good when you done.


Agree on the walnut veneer. Otherwise if that's not an option, 3 coats of GF Antique Walnut gel stain will make it look "decent"(assume using a conditioner). Make sure the 2nd coat dries a couple days, and use a very light coat for the 3rd and don't wipe it off. Its kind of like limo tinting the plywood.


----------



## bondogaposis (Dec 18, 2011)

The only way to make pine plywood look good is to paint it.


----------



## MartiTx (Jan 10, 2012)

Zinsser makes a wood bleach product which takes the yellow/orange tint out of pine and afterward it takes the stain evenly. It's more work but makes a nice finish.


----------



## steve104c (Jan 4, 2015)

Minwax has a conditioner for pine. It helps to keep from getting those dark splotchy areas. I have used it before and works. But test first. Pine is really hard to stain dark. Lighter stains work better.


----------



## Snipes (Apr 3, 2012)

try pickling first


----------



## WoodenDreams (Aug 23, 2018)

I'd be using solid wood of your choice, instead of pine plywood. Personal preference. You could take a propane torch and darken the pine plywood and go from there.


----------



## Desert_Woodworker (Jan 28, 2015)

> Walnut veneer plywood will save you so much time and frustration it would be worth every penny and would look good when you done.
> 
> Agree on the walnut veneer. Otherwise if that s not an option, 3 coats of GF Antique Walnut gel stain will make it look "decent"(assume using a conditioner). Make sure the 2nd coat dries a couple days, and use a very light coat for the 3rd and don t wipe it off. Its kind of like limo tinting the plywood.
> 
> - SMP


+1


----------



## robscastle (May 13, 2012)

I have never had any problems with the finish on my pine ply



















I think this is walnut.


----------



## DrDirt (Feb 26, 2008)

If it is already built - get some adhesive backed Walnut veneer.

there is just no way to make pine ply look like anything good - - it is just for painting.
Seems crazy to me to try all these 5 step bleach, pickle gel stain etc.. to still have ugly pine grain, that will really never be even, or look like anything other than pine.

SOme folks can make poplar look like walnut… but pine plywood.. nope.


----------



## spiritbeaver (Jan 14, 2019)

>Minwax has a conditioner for pine. It helps to keep from getting those dark splotchy areas. I have used it before and works. But test first. Pine is really hard to stain dark. Lighter stains work better.

+1 
A wood conditioner will help the pine to take stain more evenly. But it does tend to make the stain color a little lighter. Multiple coats of stain are rarely a good idea. What I would do would be to use the conditioner, then apply the stain, let dry and apply a coat of poly. You will then know the color of the stained wood. If it's too light, apply some tinted poly to further darken/color the wood.


----------



## BlueRidgeDog (Jan 2, 2019)

I have used minwax pre stain conditioner.

https://www.minwax.com/wood-products/preparation/minwax-prestain-wood-conditioner

Helps, but pine is pine and in the end you will have to live with some of its characteristics.


----------



## rwe2156 (May 7, 2014)

Would a water based stain work differently?

FWIW, I just finished some shop cabs using the cheap pine plywood (HD "radiata pine) & used water based stain (GF).

I'll take a pic when I have time.

Can be tricky on a large surface, but you might try sealing with shellac then using a gel stain


----------



## GR8HUNTER (Jun 13, 2016)

> The only way to make pine plywood look good is to paint it.
> 
> - bondogaposis


even sometimes that looks like SH** :<((((


----------



## Sawdustonmyshoulder (Jun 19, 2008)

It's the age old adage…. Making a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

Pine is pine. You put lipstick on it and it's still just pine with lipstick on it.


----------



## LesB (Dec 21, 2008)

Soft woods like Pine are notorious for not taking an even stain so a sealer is a must.

I have had good luck using shellac on pine. First apply a sealer coat of clear unwaxed shellac, Zinsser's Seal Coat works. It is a 2# cut. 
Then you can add color to successive coats of that or, a stain, or colored varathane. You can add any alcohol bases stain coloring to shellac. To darken colors just add more layers of the colored shellac. There are numerous web sites that explain this.
Depending on the final use of the project you might want to add a topcoat of varnish or varathane to protect the shellac.


----------



## Jared_S (Jul 6, 2018)

If you don't care about grain and just want dark, use toner coat(s) or a tinted top coat.


----------



## AlaskaGuy (Jan 29, 2012)

> The only way to make pine plywood look good is to paint it.
> 
> - bondogaposis


Or










Just Kidding.


----------



## rwe2156 (May 7, 2014)

Just finished some shop cabs using pine plywood "Radiata Pine" at HD.

I used water based stain.

I wouldn't expect any lesser result with a darker stain.


----------



## Tony1212 (Aug 26, 2013)

I've never tried it, but maybe using a conditioner then a really dark dye from the likes of TransTint would get you where you need to be?


----------



## rwe2156 (May 7, 2014)




----------

