Clayton Jones
07-07-2011, 2:45 PM
I had some custom bookshelves built and installed in our home. They were stained (with Minwax Gel Stain) but not finished. Some of the stain was applied unevenly, and there were other sections where I did some hand planing and chisel work to get surfaces and things to line up (this was after the stain had been applied). The wood used is plainsawn red oak as well as some red oak plywood. Stripping or sanding the whole thing is out of the question... it's bookshelves along a 30 foot wall, and I don't want to deal with a big project.
I attempted to fix the problem by laying down another coat of gel stain, which worked "pretty well" but there are still some areas of unevenness/blotchiness, in particular an area where I let the gel sit a bit too long and now it's quite a bit darker than the rest. I tried to remove some color with mineral spirits (after the stain was dried), but this didn't seem to do anything.
I'm really looking for a way to subtly blend some harsh transitions so they're a bit less noticeable. Is it possible to do this by removing color... Would another solvent like lacquer thinner or paint stripper do this? Would some light sanding, scotch-briteing, or scraping work? Or would I be better off scraping down the dark patches, then reapplying thinned-out stain in many coats? Any and all suggestions would be appreciated.
CJ
I attempted to fix the problem by laying down another coat of gel stain, which worked "pretty well" but there are still some areas of unevenness/blotchiness, in particular an area where I let the gel sit a bit too long and now it's quite a bit darker than the rest. I tried to remove some color with mineral spirits (after the stain was dried), but this didn't seem to do anything.
I'm really looking for a way to subtly blend some harsh transitions so they're a bit less noticeable. Is it possible to do this by removing color... Would another solvent like lacquer thinner or paint stripper do this? Would some light sanding, scotch-briteing, or scraping work? Or would I be better off scraping down the dark patches, then reapplying thinned-out stain in many coats? Any and all suggestions would be appreciated.
CJ