dark spots with ebony stain

[Mark Burge]

Good morning everyone,
Last night I put the first coat of an ebony stain on a small oak vase. It looked good last night, but this morning there are noticeable color differences between the endgrain and the rest of the piece. I have not used ebony stain before and the different absorption seems to be pronounced by the dark color. What can be done now and what should I have done before?

This is an experimental piece so I don't mind trying some things on it.

Thanks

[Mike Minto]

mark, any stain or finish will be absorbed more by end grain than face or edge grain, usually resulting in a more pronounced, darker shade of the color you are using. you could have used a 'pre-stain', or thinned version of the stain on the initial end grain coat, or possibly some thin shellac, then stained the entire piece. that is info for next time, i know, not this time. i suppose if sanding is an option, you might be able to lighten the darker color some, or failing that, try to bleach the wood and start over. hope it helps, mike :rolleyes:

[Steve Schlumpf]

Mark - Mike is correct about end grain absorbing finishes faster than face grain - just one of those things. Seeing as how you used a stain - and not a dye - you should be able to remove the stain by sanding because almost all of the pigment of the stain stays on the surface of the wood. If possible - put the vase back on the lathe and sand it.

They do have pre-stain conditioners available but it is nothing more than thinned down poly or varnish used to seal the wood and prevent the stain from wicking into the end grain.

Lots of luck with this. Looking forward to seeing the photos.

[Mark Burge]

Thanks Mike and Steve. Yup, you confirmed what I thought. I have done the pretreatment on flat work before, but I was worried about lines showing up on the round work. For next time, like you said Mike. Or maybe I should just turn in the endgrain orientation and avoid the whole problem.

On this piece, I think I'll try a new coat of stain and wipe off the end grain sections quickly. This might even out the color a bit. If not I'll sand and try again.

[Steve Jenkins]

Not a turner but I've done a lot of flat work in solid stock and had to stain the end grain along with everything else. When sanding end grain it will look sort of cloudy. Keep sanding until the cloudy look goes away. Some folks advocate using a finer grit on the end grain but I've found that if I'm sanding with 220 it just takes longer on the endgrain.

[Mark Burge]

Thanks Steve, yes, I noticed that cloudy look that you are talking about when I was trying to sand the dark spots a little while ago. I'll keep at it. I actually hate to go to a courser grit because I've got the surface of the wood feeling great. Unfortunately for me and my sanding hand, that was at 400 grit! I think turners tend to go a bit higher in grit than flat folk. :-)