Finish recommendation over stained wood

[jedgerton]

I have a question for those of you who may have used stain on a pen. I have an order where the customer wants the wood stained with Minwax wood stain.

After the stain dries, what finishes would you suggest? I usually use a CA finish but its always over bare wood. Would CA work after the stain has dried?

Any help would be much appreciated as the wood I'm using has special meaning to the customer.

John

 

[NewLondon88]

After Minwax??

I'd suggest black spray paint.. :tongue:

I don't see why the CA wouldn't work, but the problem is the stain drying..
not always easy to tell when it is completely dry. The CA might pull at
the stain. Might be a good idea to test it on some scrap first..

 

[traderdon55]

I had a custom order to do a bullet pen from a 45.70 shell and some curly maple. The customer supplied the shell and the wood. He liked the pattern in the maple but wanted it to be a darker color. I used walnut stain,waited two days,then did my usual ca/blo finish. The finish came out just as good as it usually did.

 

[KenV]

A couple of things to think about with stains --

Stains are pigments in a solution, sometimes with a dye combined. Pigment effects depend of the pigments staying in place or accumulating in some places (like in open grain). End grain gets dark. Cross grains can get blotchy. Some woods like birdseye maple work well to stain and back sand to create additional contracts. Over sanding (polishing) woods will not give the pigments places to "stick" and will stain lightly.

Bottom line is you should be sure you understand the expectation of the customer in terms of outcome and not rely on just process descriptions.

I generally sand to 180 or 220 grit, seal the wood with clear white shellac, resand, stain, shellac again to set, examine the effect and then adjust accordingly. After you get the effects you want, then use the final top finish of choice -- CA works if that is your normal, or there are several other good choices.

 

[wdcav1952]

John, why not consider a Minwax lacquer or polyurethane finish?

 

[jedgerton]

Cav,

CA is the devil I know (or at least think I know). I don't have any experience with the minwax finish products. Would you recommend them instead of CA?

John