Staining End Grain

[Scott]

Is there any tricks to help get more even colour absorption when staining through dovetail joints. The end grain absorbs more stain making it very dark compared to the rest. This highlights the fact that is has been stained.

Should I try a sanding sealer before using a stain / dye? Will the stain/dye take over a sanding sealer?


Scott

[Dusty]

Best thing I can come up with is to sand the end grain with finer grade paper than what you have used for the rest of the project.

This finishes the end grain finer than the main body of the work, and generally they will then both come up pretty much even when stained and coated.

[Geoff Allen]

Scott,


I have used Fungishield for this and it seems to work. Because its water consistency its also very easy to apply. Paint all sufaces not just the end.

Its also great for dramatically reducing the patchiness of stains on pine.

regards

Geoff

[soundman]

You may find using a suitable sanding sealer will help your finishing period.

what you use is dependent on what sort of stains & tops coats you plan.

I recon neil would probably lean toward shelac. ???

He sells some nice stuff including a blond which shouldn't cause too much colour problems.

[RETIRED]

Jimmy Carroll has "the Blond". Neil has the Redhead.

I ddin't know he was in the body selling trade.

Sorry couldn't resist.

[Matto]

One thing I have heard of and tried once (with moderate success) was wetting the end grain with metho. This seems to thin the stain as it soaks in and you wipe the excess off, leaving a paler stain than you would otherwise get. If you are lucky it will be a close match to the rest of the timber. Doing this on a dovetail would be tricky but I suppose it could be done.

Matto

[SteveI]

Scott

I've just finished staining several solid timber doors which have end grain as part of the shape.

I have used Feast Watson sanding sealer and have got a more even stain on that part of the door.... in fact it is a more even stain across the whole door.

There are a number of brands, but most say you must stain before applying the sanding sealer - Feast Watson is one of the few that say you can apply stain afterwards.

By the way, they suggest you don't thin the sanding sealer, but with the doors I found a buildup of the "goop" on the inside corners of the decorative areas. It took some time to scrape that out with a razor blade.

I found it was better to thin it a little and add two thin coats, then sand.

[SteveI]

Scott

One other - I was just checking out the BB owner/sponsor and they have a sanding sealer that would also do the trick in terms of getting a more even stain.

http://www.ubeaut.com.au/sandseal.htm