woodmang Posted April 21, 2016 Report Share Posted April 21, 2016 Hello fellow woodworkers! I am a little out of my element here as this project is for outdoor use. As such I am using an Outdoor stain "Olympic Maximum Cedar NaturalTone Semi-Transparent Exterior Stain". My issue is that my wife is rushing this project to be completed and ready to use for a cookout Saturday evening. My first opportunity to apply the stain will be this evening. The product says it is not completely cured / dried for at least 24 hours. Being as it is that these are benches, I need to stain all 6 sides of the 2x4 Cedar boards. Given the time constraint from my lovely wife I cannot wait 24 hours between sides. So, my question is, how long do I have to wait to flip the boards on painter's pyramids to apply the back side of the stain? I am also worried about lap marks if waiting too long for the first 3 sides to dry before doing the final. I called Olympic, they said 24 hours of course because "The boards would have a harder time soaking in the stain / penetrating if they are upside down due to gravity" Surely this can't be true, isn't it more of a "wicking" operation? Thank you all in advance for any input you can provide! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendon_t Posted April 21, 2016 Report Share Posted April 21, 2016 Is this a wipe on/ wipe back type product or something sitting on top of the wood? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AceHoleInOne Posted April 21, 2016 Report Share Posted April 21, 2016 Do yourself a favor and wait till after the party. It wont be dry by then. -Ace- 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SawDustB Posted April 21, 2016 Report Share Posted April 21, 2016 I'm with Ace on this one... There's no way I'd be sitting on them that soon. That being said, when I was doing something similar with cedar boards for my deck I found you could safely flip after 4 hours or so, as long as it was warm dry weather. There's no way that gravity is going to make any difference after the first couple of hours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drzaius Posted April 21, 2016 Report Share Posted April 21, 2016 If you're using pyramids then you can stain the underside first & flip them in an hour if it's warm & there is a breeze. Use fans. If you get it done today & you have a warm place & fans to dry then you'll be OK by Saturday. If it was rough sawn, then I'd be more cautious cause of the amount of stain the surface holds. But being a bench, I assume that it is a sanded surface. I've used Olympic stain several times & it's not that bad for drying. Just to be clear, it's not like a wood stain that you use before a top coat. It's more of a pigmented oil finish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodmang Posted April 21, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 21, 2016 8 hours ago, Brendon_t said: Is this a wipe on/ wipe back type product or something sitting on top of the wood? Neither I think...brush on, then let it dry forever. You don't wipe it off, and there should be no standing stain according to the manufacturer. 8 hours ago, AceHoleInOne said: Do yourself a favor and wait till after the party. It wont be dry by then. -Ace- That is what I am going to do, based on all your guys' recommendations here I was able to convince my wife to hold off! 7 hours ago, SawDustB said: I'm with Ace on this one... There's no way I'd be sitting on them that soon. That being said, when I was doing something similar with cedar boards for my deck I found you could safely flip after 4 hours or so, as long as it was warm dry weather. There's no way that gravity is going to make any difference after the first couple of hours. That is what I am going to do, based on all your guys' recommendations here I was able to convince my wife to hold off! Definitely no warm, dry weather here! 7 hours ago, drzaius said: If you're using pyramids then you can stain the underside first & flip them in an hour if it's warm & there is a breeze. Use fans. If you get it done today & you have a warm place & fans to dry then you'll be OK by Saturday. If it was rough sawn, then I'd be more cautious cause of the amount of stain the surface holds. But being a bench, I assume that it is a sanded surface. I've used Olympic stain several times & it's not that bad for drying. Just to be clear, it's not like a wood stain that you use before a top coat. It's more of a pigmented oil finish. Yes it is sanded. However based on all your guys' recommendations here I was able to convince my wife to hold off! So I won't have to take my chances! That makes sense, I have only ever used regular wood stain before. Thanks for the insight! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drzaius Posted April 22, 2016 Report Share Posted April 22, 2016 That's the safest route. I just noticed that this particular product is water based, so my previous comments may not apply. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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