Q: When you say to control the color by how you mix the stain not how you apply I am a little confused. My stain is premixed. It is General Finishes water based dye stain. Can that be thinned using water and do I need to thin it?
A: You can thin any stain, [...]
Q: If I brush on a final finish, will it cause water based dye stain to bleed into the finish on the brush and smear?
A: Water soluble dye can bleed onto a brush loaded with waterbased finish. Whether that will be enough to smear the stain also depends on your brushing technique and how aggressively [...]
Q: I am about to start staining and finishing my new maple kitchen cabinets. I decided to use a dye stain. On my sample pieces I applied a wood conditioner then lightly sanded, then applied the stain to the color I wanted.
A: Dyes work best on raw wood. Wood conditioners work by inhibiting stain absorption. [...]
Q: I built a small table from reclaimed mahogany. There is a lot of variance in the colour and grain pattern. I want to stain this so to even out the colour. What do you recommend?
A: Most pigmented stains work very well on mahogany to even coloration, in large part because they take full advantage [...]
Q: I am trying to find the gel base for water based dyes. Do you have formula or resource to this gel base, and does anyone make water base dye gels?
A: I used to. Back in the late 80’s to 1995, my wife ran a company called Clearwater Color Company, making waterbased gel dye stains [...]
Q: I stripped an oak fish tank stand and applied two heavy coats of espresso colored Varathane oil stain, leaving it sit one hour before wiping it off. I then applied two heavy coats of Watco Teak Oil and left them overnight. I found a sticky, gooey mess in the morning. When I tried to [...]
Q: If I use India ink for ebonizing, will that affect the glue up?
A: Yep. Any stain will diminish the bonding ability of glue, though some more than others. Dyes are less obstructive than pigments (India ink is a pigment) but the rule is that if you stain before glue up, mask off the glue [...]
Q: I made a small box out of Purple Heart. What can I finish it with to get a brilliant purple color?
A: Purple stain or dye. I realize that sounds like a strange answer, but it will make more sense if you bear with me a bit and let me explain a few things about [...]
Q: Are there any of your books or DVDs that I can buy that would help me solve problems I am having with staining projects?
A: All four of my books and my DVD cover various aspects of staining, both in how to apply stains evenly and how to correct for uneven staining. The best combination, [...]
Q: I’m using Osage Orange for a sunburst top, and discovered it tends to color shift to brown. Is there a finish or other method you know of to prevent this?
A: Many exterior coatings, both oil based and waterbased, contain UV absorbers or blockers. These help, but to be honest, they really only delay the [...]
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