Well.. I'm in a pickle

[Stelyio]

Hello everyone,

Thanks for accepting my application to join this forum. I greatly appreciate it...

Now the spill;..

Okay so I decided to order a desk from a local manufacturer and after waiting 11 weeks for it he said I'd have to wait another 4 because they were upgrading there factory and for what I was paying it defintely was not worth it anymore.

Long story short I bought a table top (raw timber) and trestles from ikea.


Now I bought a mini-wax stain from Bunnings and a sealer...

Now I put two coats on the top and one on the trestles. But I forgot to mix the stain (derrrr) so it came out very light. I again put a layer on my top and it came out much better. The only thing is i can see the direction of the stain. I did it in the way of the grain but I can see it a little and it's bothering me. Not knowing i have applied a mini wax polyurethane coat on there. Does that mean, I cant do anything about it?

What about the trestles do I need to sand them back and reapply stain or can I just get some more stain (mix this time) and apply?

I can feel the desk to be slightly not 100% smooth, what should I do?

Thanks everyone!

[fletty]

Hi Stelyio and welcome to the forum.
I think you have said that you have already put a finishing/sealing coat on and, if that is the case, you are now pretty much stuck with sanding it back. I have been tempted before to put another coat of stain on top of a finish coat but it just doesn't work.
The stain needs to soak into the timber but, with a coat of a poly, it can't soak in and just slides around on the surface.
If you are prepared to accept this as a 'learning experience' you might want to consider sanding back ONLY the desk top and doing it again and leaving the patchy trestles hiding in the dark?
fletty

[Bob38S]

Just a thought, the table top, is it the same on both sides? If so, is it possible to flip it over and try again.

About the trestles, it may be possible to strip the finish off with a stripper, lightly sand and then refinish.