Dark Finish for Pine

[Bigscience]

I just finished up a DVD rack in pine and am looking to stain it really dark to match some of our other furniture. The problem is that I can’t seem to get it very dark at all. I’ve tried 4 different brands of stain with no results. I was smart enough to start on the shelves and not touch the case. I can always make new shelves.

So here is the process that I tried:

Sand everything with 80, 100, 150, 250 with a RA sander.

Sand with 250 with a finish sander.

Hand sand with 250 to remove any machine marks.

Blow off any dust then wipe it with a tack cloth to get any that’s left over.

Use Minwax conditioner as directed for even stain absorption. (before first coat only)

Apply stain and let sit for he maximum directed time. (I’ve tried Minwax, Berh, Verithane and Var, all oil based)

I’ve tried to increase the amount of time to over 2 hours before wiping and have put on 5 coats to no avail.

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What else can I do? I was thinking about trying a gel stain or even a 1 step poly/stain. Is there something that will let the stain sit on the top of the wood like a paint to give it that dark look? I’ve also heard that you can steam/wet the wood to open the pores up to absorb more stain too. Has anyone tried this? Should I try a water based strain? I’d really like to not lift the grain and have to re-sand. Any thoughts (besides use another wood next time) are welcome. Thanks

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FYI this is what I want it to look like: http://www.crateandbarrel.com/itemgroups/18929_0.asp

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[ubeaut]

You could try Condy's Crystals (potassium Permanganate) mixed in hot water (about 3oz of crystals to 1 litre of water) It's a deep purple colour but will chemically change the colour of pine to a deep rich brown similar to what you want. However it will still look like pine.
Condy's crystals was used to make pine look like walnut. Don't breathe the hot fumes and keep it away from metal as it is a very strong oxidising agent, use gloves or you will also go very dark brown for a very long time.

If you don't want to try the chemical mix. Personally I would get rid of the conditioner and would use a turpentine based wiping stain to blanket the surface of the timber. probably walnut with maybe a bit of lamp black universal tinter in it (thats the stuff they colour paint with from the paint store). Don't use oil or alsohol based stains as they won't darken the timber enough for what you want.

You probably won't get too much help from this end as we have little or no knowledge of the products you are using here in Australia.

Hope this is of some help to you.

Cheers - Neil

PS the Condy's crystals must go onto raw timber and I would advise the same for the stain.

[Bigscience]

Will the turpentine based wiping stain be more like a paint and stay on top of the wood? I tried to put an even coat of stain on and let it dry (no buffing off of extra) and it looked pretty good. However when I put the Tung oil on it wiped off all that wasn't soaked into the wood. Is it like a one step?

[PAH1]

Will the turpentine based wiping stain be more like a paint and stay on top of the wood? I tried to put an even coat of stain on and let it dry (no buffing off of extra) and it looked pretty good. However when I put the Tung oil on it wiped off all that wasn't soaked into the wood. Is it like a one step?

You would probably find that the tung oil is acting as a solvent and dissolving the stain that has not penetrated, many tung oil finishes are really blends with mostly solvent in them. Try what Neil suggested, he is a slight expert when it comes to finishes, follow the link at the bottom of the page "enterprises" look for a polishers handbook link.

[Geoff Allen]

You would probably find that the tung oil is acting as a solvent and dissolving the stain that has not penetrated, many tung oil finishes are really blends with mostly solvent in them. Try what Neil suggested, he is a slight expert when it comes to finishes, follow the link at the bottom of the page "enterprises" look for a polishers handbook link.

Slight! Must have slimmed down considerably since I last saw him! Must have been too much solvent.


regards
Geoff

[ubeaut]

Sorry Bigscience - but you will have to use some of your bigscience knowledge to fix this one. For starters you can't use an oil over an oil based stain or a turpentine based stain as they are compatible and will pull the stain off the timber and into the applicator. You must use an incompatible finish.

I.E. Oil or spirit finish over a water based dye or stain... water or oil based over spirit stain, etc.

All oil finishes are best used onto raw unstained timber. If you must use oil then the best stain by far is water, even better still, the chemical dye mentioned in my last post, because it is the timber you will be applying the oil to and not a stain or dye.

Hope this is a bit more help

Cheers - Neil
(It's not Bigscience, just common sense)

[R. McCarthy]

Off the top of my head - and I have'nt tried it - Raven Oil or shoe polish.......