Go to finish and blotches

[abowers]

Hello folks,

 

I had purchased Mark's video of his go to finish, and it has worked well until I started my tabletop (flat surface with a cherry veneer).  I had used Minwax prestain conditioner (water based) and General Finishes water-based stain.  It looked great until I tried the variation of grain filling.  Once I started sanding (220 grit) with the 1/3 varnish, boiled linseed oil and mineral spirits in the direction of the wood grain and wiped across the grain, it has become very blotchy.  Therefore my question is;  how can I get an even stain after doing all of this. My thought was to let it dry for a couple of weeks, sand with 320 close to the wood, restain and then continue with the varnish.  

 

Please let me know your thoughts.

 

Thanks

AA

 

p.s., filling the wood grain worked very well with this method,

[Tkf530]

Why are you using grain filler with cherry?

[Trip]

AA,

 

I've never watched Marc's video, so I don't know what schedule is being applied...

 

Cherry is a special case...  There are entire websites dedicated to finishing cherry... For one thing, it blotches like crazy.  

 

Take a read: 

 

http://www.finishwiz.com/cherry.htm

 

http://www.popularwoodworking.com/techniques/flexner-on-finishing-finishing-cherry

 

http://news.thefinishingstore.com/?p=1239

[krtwood]

One man's blotch is another man's figure. 

[abowers]

Thanks folks,

 

Tkf, I am guessing its cherry,  the guy who gave me the table said that's what it was, I often have trouble distinguishing species. It has a wild figure to it so it may not be, I kind of like the figure now after krtwood's comment.  Mark has a variation that he uses for grain filling using 1/3 varnish mixture, 1/3  BLO and 1/3 mineral spirits.  Then sand with the grain at 220 and wipe across the grain forcing it into the pores.  This veneer, whatever it may be, had a lot of little pores, not necessarily an open grain and often changes grain direction.  

 

This is more of a refinishing job and was difficult because it sat in a damp basement or probably 30 years or better,  took about 6 months to dry the wood enough to start working and repairing broken pieces.

 

hhh, thanks for the reads, I have heard that cherry does blotch, I used the pre stain to try and minimize it.  I was considering using gel stain but didn't want to obscure the grain too much as to have it look like a "painted" surface as it did for my last project.  Maybe I am just not used to working with it.  I am still a beginner and this is only my second project using stain.  By the way, I decided to stain because some of the repairs required me to use a different or newer wood and I was concerned about it being apparent.

 

Anyway, do you think I can stain over the varnish if the only varnish left on the surface is in the pores?

 

Thanks for the comments!!!

 

Aaron

[Tkf530]

Thanks folks,

 

Tkf, I am guessing its cherry,  the guy who gave me the table said that's what it was, I often have trouble distinguishing species. It has a wild figure to it so it may not be, I kind of like the figure now after krtwood's comment.  Mark has a variation that he uses for grain filling using 1/3 varnish mixture, 1/3  BLO and 1/3 mineral spirits.  Then sand with the grain at 220 and wipe across the grain forcing it into the pores.  This veneer, whatever it may be, had a lot of little pores, not necessarily an open grain and often changes grain direction.  

 

This is more of a refinishing job and was difficult because it sat in a damp basement or probably 30 years or better,  took about 6 months to dry the wood enough to start working and repairing broken pieces.

 

hhh, thanks for the reads, I have heard that cherry does blotch, I used the pre stain to try and minimize it.  I was considering using gel stain but didn't want to obscure the grain too much as to have it look like a "painted" surface as it did for my last project.  Maybe I am just not used to working with it.  I am still a beginner and this is only my second project using stain.  By the way, I decided to stain because some of the repairs required me to use a different or newer wood and I was concerned about it being apparent.

 

Anyway, do you think I can stain over the varnish if the only varnish left on the surface is in the pores?

 

Thanks for the comments!!!

 

Aaron

Cherry doesn't have open grain or pores. So there is no need for grain filler. Can you take a picture of it please?

Ash for example is an open grained wood. While Oak is a open pored wood.

[Trip]

==> I am guessing its cherry

 

The 'guessing its cherry' changes things quite a bit...  As others have stated, a picture or three would really help...

[abowers]

I took one with my phone, how do upload it?

[Tkf530]

I took one with my phone, how do upload it?

More Reply Options > Attach Files > Choose File.

[abowers]

here is the pic.

[dcustoms]

Its Mahogany...you need grain filler

[Tkf530]

Did it look like this after you applied the stain and let it dry or after the "grain filler"? What could of happened was the stain reactived and you pulled it off when you applied the filler.

And did you sand after the stain?

[abowers]

TKF:  I sanded to 180, then stained, next I sanded (220) with the oil varnish mixture to create a slurry to fill the grain.  This is where I stand now.

 

Woodsap: The table top was stained when I received it, it was very difficult to remove the old stain from the pores, so I am trying to match it.

[dwacker]

TKF: I sanded to 180, then stained, next I sanded (220) with the oil varnish mixture to create a slurry to fill the grain. This is where I stand now.

Woodsap: The table top was stained when I received it, it was very difficult to remove the old stain from the pores, so I am trying to match it.

Fill the grain first then stain, use a real grain filler product. Looks like you will need to start over.

[abowers]

I started over,  two thirds the way done with stripping.  Is this a natural part of the wood grain in this photo?  When I inherited this table, the finish was really bad, especially over these parts where the grain seems to change direction.  Is this natural or a flaw in the wood.

 

Also, What type of wood grain filler do you recommend?  Should I continue...?

[abowers]

Okay, now after applying the grain filler, I now know that the photo above is where the veneer wore through, probably water damage..  Guess I have more work to, remove and re veneer.