Oak Dining Table - What is happening in this spot with stain/finish?

[ShaneH]

I have a dining table I made out of red oak. I used Minwax stain (2 coats), and now have put on one coat of Minwax wipe-on poly. 

After staining, there is one small spot where grain changes pattern. It seems to either absorb way more than other spots, or not at all? 

I have tried to lightly sand between stain costs, and put more stain on to darken the color to match. Now after one coat of poly (planning on 5-6 coats to top of table), I am struggling with how to correct/fix this spot. 

I would prefer not to sand it all down and start over on the top, curious if there is anything else that could be done to better get this one spot to match? 

Thanks for any help. I have attached a couple of photos for reference of the table. Been a long time reader of forums for help, never had one to post myself yet and could use the help. - Shane 

[Chris208]

I would guess there was some glue that didn't get cleaned up that's preventing it from staining evenly. you would need to sand it down to remove the glue.

[ShaneH]

Hi Chris, 

Thanks for the post. No glue was used in putting the table together, but I agree it does have that appearance. 

My current thought it to sand it down some, and then use a stain marker of the same finish and brand, to try to patch that spot. 

 

[Chestnut]

Looks like the grain got burnished slightly. The lighter spot is contained to that board and hat specific grain pattern. My guess is that a high grit of sandpaper hit the changing grain direction and burnished the fibers which causes them to not grab as much stain.

I'm curious how you attached multiple boards together without glue. Is the top plywood?

[ShaneH]

Hi Chestnut - Thanks for the reply. You could very well be right in that the small area there has been burnished. Any idea as to how to undo what was done then so the grain soaks in more evenly? Would the only answer be to take it back down with a rougher grit sandpaper beyond that point? And then bring it back trying not to burnish again? I used an orbital sander down to 220 grit. 

As far as how I joined them - I used a kreg jig and pocket hole screws to join the boards without any glue. I put a skirt around the bottom to help give more strength. Discovering the pocket hole screw method is much easier to me than glue, and then you don't end up with any glue marks on your finish. Here is a link to the Kreg website. I purchased the K4, and can come in handy for a lot of projects. https://www.kregtool.com/store/c13/kreg-jigsreg/

[drzaius]

I have never been terribly satisfied with the results obtained with wipe on stains; dyes give much more control & better results. I think the only way you can save this is to sand down the entire top to bare wood & start over. 220 grit is usually good for staining, but if you let the paper get worn it will burnish the wood. I like to sand to 220 with a RAS & then a light hand sanding with the grain with 220.

[ShaneH]

Thanks for the reply and input. I think you are right, as I was using a RAS at 220, and must have for that small chunk not swapped out the pad soon enough and with the grain pattern there burnished the wood. For now, I tried sanding that small area down by hand to try to get past what I burnished, and then am carefully re-staining and smoothing out to try to get back to as good of a match as possible. I went and bought a stain marker of the same brand and finish, which is working better in the burnished areas to coat it in, let it sit for a while, blend off the excess - and then repeat. 

It isn't going to look as good in that spot as I had hoped, but for now realize my alternative would be to sand it all down again, and start fresh which is for now what I'm hoping to avoid doing. Could turn into a spring time project to re-do the stain and finish, but for now plan to get it as good to blended as possible and see how we like the table. Being for our own personal use at home, not a huge deal in grand scheme. These little things, like most woodworkers on here, just make me cringe as a perfectionist and bring out the desire to get it as good as possible. 

 

[Chestnut]

I was going to suggest taking some of the grit you used with your ROS and do some hand sanding in the grain direction and then reapply the stain. Not sure if you have finish applied yet but even applying finish will even out some of these areas that look worse then they actually are. I like to stop at 120 for oil stains, always seemed to get better absorption and more even color.

I also didn't ask about your application method. There is a change that it could have been a thirsty spot that didn't get enough stain to begin with.

[drzaius]

I'll encourage you to rethink this. From the small areas you've shown us, it looks like you've done a great job on the build & it would be a shame to have that spot staring back at you for the next 20 years. Sanding back & restaining the top only would not take long at all, probably less time than trying to touch up the spot.

[Chestnut]

Why not try the touchup first? If the end result is sanding back the entire top you have nothing to lose and only gain if it works.