2am - should have gone to bed earlier

Paul Hubbman

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St. Louis, MO
I think i already know the anser to this, but i'll put it to greater minds than mine for some advice. I stayed up too late last night trying to get some built-in cabinetry done before the onslaught of houseguests over Thanksgiving. The cabinetry is done and installed, and i made the tops yesterday. Last night i filled some nail holes and did final sanding. Then i sealed with a 1-1/2 lb cut of shellac. I rubbed it down with #0 steel wool and applied the first coat of stain - Minwax mahogony. The top is baltic burch with a southern yellow pine solid edge and molding (to match the 92 year old molding in the rest of the room). I found that a spit coat of shellac, followed by two passes with the stain, another coat of shellac, and two coats of poly match the original pretty well.
At any rate, when wiping off the excess stain, i noticed some areas where the seal coat didn't quite soak in - the dark mottled look as if i hadn't sealed it at all. Now, it gets another coat of stain, so the blotching will be less pronounced, but it's still unacceptable in my book. I can't imaging i'll be able to get it out. Is there a fix other than taking it down to bare wood and veneering over it?
Thanks in advance.
Paul Hubbman
 
i have alittle but if your not familiar with it then i quess we should let others with more xpernce speak up... i have gotten it to work for me but it wasnt a counter just a piece of cabinetry.. go to jeff jewitts site and drop him a eamil or call him he's a good guy. "homestead finishing"
 
If your problem is "too light" then I suggest mixing transtint dye with the clear finish... A few drops in a small amount of finish creates a "toner" where the color is in the finish rather than in the wood (but nobody can tell after it is done) and some very fine spraying allows you to darken the splotchy areas a coat at a time... if it isn't dark enough, let it dry, and put on another coat,etc. I like the transtint dyes because they can be used with practically any clear finish. A little pricey, but when fixing things just use a few drops in a small amount of finish... don't mix up the quarts!

If your problem is "too dark" then you have to remove the color. Since you are on plywood, you can't sand it out. I just had such a problem this last weekend... careful use of paint remover got most of the color out, then after letting it dry thoroughly, I sanded it lightly, expecting that I was going to have to use the toner trick to make it even. I was pleased to discover that most of the remaining color was on the surface and sanded out of the plywood nicely. I am now waiting for the new stain to dry.

If you are going to have to go the paint remover route, consider whether you have enough finish on to protect the wood through the holiday, and then attack it next week when you aren't rushed. I might even consider an extra coat of shellac, knowing that it will be removed in a week.
 
Thanks for the input guys. In my case, some of the wood fibers weren't sealed (my mistake) and they sucked up that dark stain like crazy. The problem areas are too dark and it's soaked deep into the grain. I think i'll make due for the holiday, then take it all off afterwards and laminate on a clean veneer - then start over and do it right.
Live and learn.
Thanks for your input.
Enjoy the holiday.
Paul Hubbman
 
Sounds like you are a perfect candidate for the paint remover bit - it does normally work with soaked in stain. The new "gel" type removers don't stink very much, and clean up well (plastic putty knife to remove most of the gunk, then wash with one of the sponges that have an abrasive back.

I would sure give that a try before ripping stuff out and redoing it.

One thing amazed me when I did this over the weekend ... I wiped the gunk on a plastic bag, and left it on the ground outside to harden before I put it in the trash. The ants were having a feast when I picked it up a day later. I don't know if it was edible, or the ants were tying on a high, but it wasn't dissolving them. (I still would wear the rubber gloves as recommended)
 
Not wanting to sound like a monday morning quarterback Paul, but in the future you may want to use some of your scrap stock to test your finishes. Once your happy with the way the scraps look, go for the real thing.

Good Luck,
 
Not wanting to sound like a monday morning quarterback Paul, but in the future you may want to use some of your scrap stock to test your finishes. Once your happy with the way the scraps look, go for the real thing.

Good Luck,

Darren,
that's what i did to make sure i had a good color match. I think it had more to do with the hour of the day, after a very long day, that contributed to my imperfect seal coat application. The end product is fine over 95% of the surface. It's the other 5% that's a bit splotchy from uneven application of the seal coat.
paulh
 
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