General Finishes Oil Based 2nd Coat Lighter?

[Erich Weidner]

I made several 8' x 2' stain test boards out of "A face" Red Oak plywood off cuts to try out several stains for a bar project. I used several different stains from General Finish's Oil-based Stain line. https://generalfinishes.com/wood-fin...ng-wood-stains

Ambient temp was between 75 and 82 degrees Fahrenheit while drying. I let the stains dry for about 26 hours before applying a 2nd coat to half of the previously stained sheets. (Of course, I forgot to take pictures and I'm not at the workspace now.)
On all 3 of the sheets the part I applied a second coat then wiped off now appear lighter in color than the remaining portion of the sheet which just had the one coat.

My understanding is that this is a pigment stain, so subsequent coats should darken the color as more pigment gets laid down.

Any thoughts?

[Bennett Ostroff]

Interesting test! My theory is that the first coat is being partially dissolved by the solvent in the second coat, and the pigment is lifted off when you wipe off the excess. If you wiped the second coat off right away instead of letting is sit for a few minutes, that could be the cause. That's happened to me with gel stain. Otherwise, I'm kinda surprised they got lighter. I bet GF could answer this.

[Erich Weidner]

Yeah, I'm not sure how long to leave the stain before wiping off. Just watched some videos on General Finish's website, and they show wiping off very quickly. (Less than 1 minute).

OTOH, perhaps I just didn't let the oil-base finish dry long enough and I was putting the 1st coat back in suspension with the second coat.

I'm not a big fan of staining... I like the wood to look like what it looks like... but for this project I think the natural red oak just doesn't look right. Want something darker, but cost is an issue, so red oak it is!

[John TenEyck]

That happens if you didn't let the first coat dry long enough. 26 hours should have been enough, but if you left a heavy film it could take a lot longer.

John

[John Isgren]

Did you see the thread on fuming white oak earlier. It also works with red oak.