Michael Dresdner » stain

Hand applied sunburst

Michael — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 14:00:12 +0000

Q: How do you recreate the look of the old style hand applied sunburst used on Gibson mandolins from the 1920s and 1930s?
A: The somewhat rough look of the inside ring of the sunburst comes from the old style hand applied sunburst as opposed to one that is sprayed on. It’s a moderately difficult technique that I described in an article I wrote back in the early 1980s in Vintage Guitar Bulletin. It involves working dye from the outside in onto a surface already fully wet with the solvent of the dye, to prevent it from grabbing too much.
For example, with water soluble dye, you start with a fairly weak dye mixture and a top fully wet with water. You work with two rags; one wet with solvent and the other with dye, and apply and wipe successively, creeping up on the color as you go.
Once the inside color is where you want it, remix the dye to a stronger concentration of the same color and do the same thing, this time staying closer to the outside edge. The first dye blends into the undyed center, the second blends part way into the first dye, and so on. Do as many color gradations as you like and need.
It takes some practice, and is one of those things that is hard to describe. It’s easier to learn if you actually get to see someone do it, which is why I have thus far avoided posting about it.

Over toning lacquer

Michael — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 14:00:06 +0000

Q: I used a toning lacquer to color the wood. I want to put polyurethane over it. Can I do this?
A: Yes, you can.

Metalic glaze

Michael — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 14:00:39 +0000

Q: I recently installed some cabinets from Woodmode/Brookhaven that were finished with a “pewter glaze” over cherry. Kind of cool looking with a very slight metallic sheen over a medium dark cherry. Would have any idea of a concoction that could be used to mimic that?
A: Several companies, including Olympic and Valspar, sell ready to use metallic glazes to the public in a variety of metal tones and in both oil and water bases. You can find them at paint and home stores. About two years ago they were the hot thing, and companies rushed to make them available to hoi polloi. My guess is that they are still out there.

Unstaining

Michael — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 14:00:25 +0000

Q: My stepson recently purchased stain from the cabinet supplier of his kitchen. The plan was to match the color to his unfinished crown molding. The color is wrong. Since the molding has contours, it can’t be easily sanded off. Is there a solution for stripping down to bare wood?
A: Most stains can be scrubbed at least part way off with lacquer thinner on nylon abrasive pads. It won’t remove all the stain, but you may get enough off that you can restain with something that adjusts for the problems while bringing you up to the color you want. That can be done either with a second stain operation on raw wood, or with a toner, which is stain mixed in coating. Either way you will need to mix a custom color stain to compensate for what you could not remove, and add whatever colors are missing from what you want to end up with. This is not necessarily a job for a neophyte as it does take some skill with color matching and compensating.

Inked salad bowls

Michael — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 14:00:31 +0000

Q: I want to color walnut sapwood on salad bowls with India ink, then seal it with shellac and salad bowl finish. Would this be safe for food?
A: Yep. By the way, I would let the ink dry then go straight to salad bowl finish. In this case, adding shellac would weaken the finish.

Unwanted stains

Michael — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 14:00:09 +0000

Q: I just bent some cherry sides for an acoustic guitar. A reaction must have occurred during the bending process resulting in green blue spots on the wood surface. What do you recommend to eliminate or minimize?
A: Removing stains depends first on know what caused them. Blue green stain is most likely one of three sources: coming in contact with natural or artificial stain, such as extractives from a different wood bent in that press; a reaction with a metal surface; or blue green mold. Sadly, each has a different fix.
Contact with a natural or synthetic dye will usually come out with a wash of laundry bleach. That will not change the color of cherry substantially. Contact with a natural pigment is usually only on the surface, and will sand out fairly quickly. A reaction with a metal can usually be reversed with a wash of a ten percent solution of oxalic acid, and that won’t harm the color of cherry either. If it is blue green mold, about the only thing I know of that removes it is a wash with a fairly concentrated (30% or higher) peroxide solution, and that will substantially darken cherry.
Do some detective work first to figure out the likely source and the fix should be easier.

Bartley clear gel

Michael — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 14:00:34 +0000

Q: I recently purchased a quart of Bartley Gel Varnish over the internet. The product I received is Bartley Gel Stain – Clear Satin. Is this the same as the Bartley Gel Varnish?
A: Yep. The best I can figure is that Bartley started as a one step wipe on stain and finish, sold as an “all you need do is wipe on the stain and you’re done” panacea. That started people referring to what was actually a tinted finish as a stain. It made sense to keep the familiar name for the clear version. The same gestalt exists in deck coatings; most are technically tinted finishes, but are called stains.

Kitchen magic

Michael — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 14:00:38 +0000

Q: The kitchen cabinets in my 20 year old house were painted rather than stained. They are a cherry color on what I believe is alder. Over the years some of the paint has chipped away leaving behind part of the original unfinished wood. The cherry paint itself is not a solid color, but varies in color a bit. Can a handy person do a decent patch up job?
A: Absolutely, but it helps to know what you are dealing with, and it’s not paint. It’s called toner, which is clear finish with some color added to it, though not as much color as would be in an opaque paint. Instead of staining the wood, the wood is sealed, then sprayed with layers of semi-transparent color until one gets a uniform tint. Spraying more means darker, more opaque color; less gives lighter, more translucent color.
Because that is such a common method of coloring cabinets and furniture, there are common repair materials available to do touch up. They come in two distinct types; pens and aerosol cans. Touch up pens are essentially felt tip markers made in common furniture finish colors. You use them just as you would a marker, simply coloring in the light areas to match. You can also find aerosol cans of toner or tinting lacquer which you spray on the area to blend in the color. Both are quite easy to use. Just make certain you clean the area, or better yet, the entire cabinet, with a good degreaser first to ensure good adhesion. The cheapest effective cleaner is mineral spirits, also sold under the name paint thinner.

The color of virtue

Michael — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 14:00:26 +0000

Q: I saw a table online that said it has a java finish. What does that mean?
A: It means some marketing whiz kid has decided that the word java sounds better than brown, or at least will sell more easily.
The stain and furniture people are at last catching up with the paint naming folks, who long ago started slipping in common nouns as paint colors. It started innocently enough; after all, espresso is a pretty predictable. It’s dark brown both in the cup and in the paint can. Ditto for sandstone, robin’s egg, claret and so on. But when colors start showing up with names like sprinkle, dress rehearsal, perfection and virtue, (all actual paint colors currently for sale) we’re clearly on our own.

A shade more glycerin

Michael — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 14:00:01 +0000

Q: I just obtained two small table lamps made of burl and the lampshades are of what appears to be birdseye maple veneer. The veneer is fabric backed and very brittle. As a result there are some small voids and cracks in each shade. I plan to back the voids with wood putty and then use a wood stain. This won’t entirely correct the problem but do you have any suggestions for application? Moreover will glycerin help to restore some of the suppleness and help avoid future cracks?
A: Glycerin may help restore some suppleness, and may even help slow the cracking, but once you put it on, you really can’t do anything else. In other words, glycerin will prevent the stain you plan on using from taking evenly, and stain will prevent the glycerin from being absorbed. You may have to choose one or the other.
To be honest, I don’t understand why you want to stain the shade veneers, but if you do, you’ll have to clean and sand them first. Most household goods develop of thin coating of airborne oils, and while they look clean, are not. Raw wood will simply absorb such oils. Either way, trying to stain other than raw, clean, sanded wood can result in problems.
For what it is worth, the cracking is almost certainly a function of the heat and attendant dryness coming from the bulb behind the lamp shade. Replacing the bulbs with cool to the touch compact fluorescent bulbs will help eliminate much of the heat and may prolong the life of the shade.