# Tryin' to finish pine in a dark color....HELP!!!



## woodworkn4me

Hey guys… I am attempting to finish some pine wainscotting board in a dark walnut finish. The color is coming out a light to medium color. What am I doing wrong? I am using a walnut minwax stain (Polyshade).


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## Russel

If you're only using one coat, that could be a problem. That pine really sucks that stuff up. I typically use at least two coats letting it dry with a light sanding between. My grandson's bed came out pretty dark.

http://lumberjocks.com/projects/3890


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## TomFran

Polyshade does not penetrate the wood; it only "lays" on it. The only way to make it darker with Polyshades is to add more and more coats.

If you want to get pine darker, you use stain which penetrates the wood. And, you have to be careful of sanding with sandpaper that is finer than say, 150. Sanding too fine won't allow the stain to penetrate sufficiently to get it dark.

Pine is very tricky. I have had best results getting an even finish by using Minwax Preconditioner. I did this project using the preconditoner and was satisfied with the results. Finishing is a whole other specialty. Many of us have done a decent job building something only to do a poor job of finishing.


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## sbryan55

i agree Tom. The only problem with prefinishing and then putting on an oil stain is that pine will have trouble taking up the stain, which is the point of prefinishing. It does tend to be lighter and multiple applications of oil based stains produces little darkening of the wood. By the same token if you omit the preconditioner then the wood will blotch but it will be much darker.

One note here is that application of finish will darken the piece as well.

Tom you are right pine is tricky to work with.


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## Russel

You're right Tom. I missed the fact that he was using Polyshade. I don't typically use them, so it didn't even enter my mind.


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## gizmodyne

Think about doing some stain samples first. Those polyshades are tricky. You could also try to mix in some standard minwax walnut to tint in darker. Anyway you go, don't get impatient. Let each coat dry before you monkey with the next.

Good luck.


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## woodworkn4me

Going with stain then poly method. I cannot seem to get the Polyshade to get as dark as I prefer. Thanks for the advise guys.


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## rmora76393

What TopE5 says is true … sand/seal & satin using a gel with a mohogany tint, then lightly sand with 220 paper


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