Spirit Based Stain

[paul moldovanos]

I would like to know more about spirit based stains. All the books I've read cover the differences in approach between oil & water based stains only. A gunsmith gave me this stain called Bourne Wood Stain to re-finish some Beech gunstocks. Information I'm looking for is on which grit to end the finishing, does it raise the grain as water based stains do etc.
Thanks.

[Steve Schoene]

Spirit stains--otherwise known as alcohol based stains--may be useful on small objects, but for a project of any size they become very challenging to use. The reason is that the alcohol evaporates very quickly. When any liquid stain overlaps an already dry area you get a darker streak. That would happen with water mixed stains but the water evaporates much more slowly so you get even coverage by flooding on the dye. That won't work for spirit based dye. For furniture it would be far better to spray the spirit stain, but you should also be skilled with the spray gun to get even application.

Most alcohol soluble stains are not as color fast in light as their water soluble counterparts. Yes the spirit based stain will not raise grain as much as a water soluble stain. But raised grain isn't as much of a problem as some assume. The secret is to not try to sand off the raised grain until after it has been hardened by a coat of the finish. That makes it easy to sand without disturbing the stain color. Dye, of any sort, is a bit less picky about how finely the sanding is done than a pigmented stain which emphasizing the scratches. I tend to sand through about 220 grit (or 180 grit) whether using dye or oil based pigmented stain.