Keep my figure

[Colin Wollerman]

I am slooowly getting this coffee/curio table done (red oak)
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I plan on stain and then spraying lacqure with a Critter Sprayer.

Thing is I have to use a fairly dark stain and I don't want to loose any of the figure on the top. In fact,I would like it to "pop" a little.

I read about pore filling with slurry but I am not sure about the stain in that proccess or pore filling at all.
I don't want the top to not match the rest of the piece and I sure don't want to pore fill the whole thing...???
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance,
Colin

[Casey Gooding]

Pore filling will not add more pop to the grain. After the stain is thoroughly dry, apply a coat of boiled linseed oil. Let sit 15 minutes or so, then wipe off the excess. If you are using an oil based topcoat, proceed after a day or so. If you are using lacquer, either let the piece cure for about two weeks, or seal with shellac before lacquer (which can be done the next day).

[Colin Wollerman]

Pore filling will not add more pop to the grain. After the stain is thoroughly dry, apply a coat of boiled linseed oil. Let sit 15 minutes or so, then wipe off the excess. If you are using an oil based topcoat, proceed after a day or so. If you are using lacquer, either let the piece cure for about two weeks, or seal with shellac before lacquer (which can be done the next day).

Casey, Thanks for the reply.
I have read about the linseed oil but did not know about the TWO WEEK cure time before lacquer! This sounds like the ticket (using the shellac option) I was really only wanting to 'pop'the top to keep the labor down.
Do you think there will be a big contrast in finishes? With the rest of the piece being only stain >> lacquer?

Thanks again for the reply.
Aloha,
Colin

[Scott Holmes]

The brand of stain you use will make a difference. redoak will trap a lot of pigment stain in the pores.

BLO does not need 2 weeks before lacquer. A seal coat of shellac the next day and the then you can lacquer.

Pore filling withthe slurry method will hide the grain a bit. You can "fill" the grain with shellac it's optically clear, hard, and color fast, and fast drying.

Brush on 3-4 coats of a 2# cut, 30 minutes apart then let it dry for an hour. Sand it back to flat leaving the shellac only in the pores.

NOW for a few comments...

You said stain dark and you said BLO to pop the grain. These steps are important and which order you do them will impact the results.

They are a bit at odds with each other... The BLO will block some of the stain. The stain will block the BLO.

Have you thought about using dye to color the wood; then, the BLO to pop the grain?

[Prashun Patel]

To add to Scott's comment:

You can topcoat within hours of applying BLO if you don't let the BLO soak in too deep. The idea is to flood the surface, and then wipe it off fairly quickly. If you let it sit for a while before wiping the excess, you probably will need to let it cure for at least a few days.

I also suggest using a waterbased/aniline dye. That's better than pigment stain for grain preservation.

Personally, I hardly notice the grain pop difference between shellac and BLO - even on light woods, where it'd really be evident.

So, if it were me, I'd follow this sequence:

Dye
Amber Shellac
Topcoat

[Colin Wollerman]

Scott, Shawn.
I am intrigued with using dye however, I'm a novice and am a little intimidated due to my lack of experience with dyes. This is a pretty big project for me and I have had some success with spray lacquer on other projects. Plus, I already have a gallon.

I will be doing some small turnings in the near future and hope to build some confidence some different finishes.

I think I will give the stain>BLO>shellac>lacquer a try on some scrap and maybe compare it to a stain> lacquer.

Thanks a heap for the input. I will be sure to post my test results.
Aloha,
Colin

[Prashun Patel]

Spray lacquer would be a fine choice over dye. In fact, you wouldn't even need to shellac in between; you could shoot the lacquer right over the dye.

I humbly suggest you NOT be intimidated by dye. Once I discovered it, I never went back. A small 2oz bottle of Transtint will last you a long while, since you only use as much as you need per project.

I've had wonderful luck with medium brown, red, and amber. You can replicate a lot of 'usual' stain tones with just those three.

[Colin Wollerman]

Shawn, You have inspired me. I will see what the local woodcraft has in the way of dyes and do a little more reading etc. I am pulling 12s at work right now so it may have to wait a couple weeks.
Thanks,
C

[Scott Holmes]

Colin,

Your comment "...will give the stain>BLO>shellac>lacquer a try on some scrap and maybe"

The pigment stain has a varnish binder that holds the pigment in place. Without the varnish binder the dried pigment would brush right off.

The binder seals the wood; BLO will not do anything, it can't get into the grain very well.

TransTint dye will work with water or alcohol. Water is easier to use for beginners.

The beauty of dye is that it does not seal the wood and you can add additional coats to darken it. Wiping it on is a good way to start; be careful with overlap as the dye will be darker where ever there is two coats... Another beautiful feature about dye is that if it's too dark you can wipe it down with water and lighten it.

Shawn,

BLO will pop the grain about the same as shellac the first day; however the BLO will continue to darken over time the shellac will not.

24 hours (I try to wait 48 in Houston's high humidity) is a good rule of thumb to let BLO dry and cure before you do anything to seal it. Sealing it slows the curing process way down.

[Colin Wollerman]

Scott,
That's pretty sound logic. I was (am) reluctant to try any extra treatment or process for the top only (even though it was my idea to start with:o) in fear that it will end up contrasting the rest of the table.
So...same finish for entire table; Dye (water based) >> Lacquer. I will probably do a couple extra coats of lacqure on the top and hope for the best as far as the figure goes. I will play with the BLO process on another project.

Thanks again,
Colin