2nd stain with conditioner? - Woodworking Talk

enormo · 02-06-2008, 01:46 PM

Hi all,
I have an old pine mantel that I'm refinishing. After stripping layers of paint and finish I sanded down to raw wood. I applied Cabot pre-stain conditioner and then applied Cabot oil based stain. As per the instructions I applied the stain before the conditioner had a chance to dry (<2-5min).

My problem is that the stain didn't get the wood as dark as I would like. (an understood side effect of the conditioner)

I called Cabot (made by Valspar?) to see about getting the finish darker and they recommened sanding with around a 120g and then finishing with a 220g. Then reapplying stain for a longer period without pre-conditioning again.

Any thoughts?

Thanks!

btw... I want to give it a hand-rubbed finish after staining. Any problem with this considering the conditioner?

daryl in nanoose · 02-06-2008, 11:55 PM

Conditioner is for 1st coat only to seal the raw material and helps prevent blotching of the stain so of course the stain going on won't be as dark so I would do another coat of stain with no conditioner.

enormo · 02-07-2008, 12:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by daryl in nanoose

Conditioner is for 1st coat only to seal the raw material and helps prevent blotching of the stain so of course the stain going on won't be as dark so I would do another coat of stain with no conditioner.

hmmm.... I tried doing a light sanding with a 120g paper and then applying stain for 15-20 minutes but I didn't notice a significant change in color.

TomD · 02-07-2008, 01:29 AM

Can you darken the stain?

Tom

enormo · 02-07-2008, 01:59 PM

It's a dark walnut. I'm not sure I can get too much darker than that. Even if I could I think the issue now is that the wood is sealed.

I would think my options now would be to sand way down or strip chemically.

jerry · 02-07-2008, 02:39 PM

So called pre-stain conditioner is of two kinds. 1. A very thin finish.2 Mostly thinner,where the stain is applied within five minutes. The theory here is if the pores are filled with thinner they will absorb less stain. Both are made to increase the bottom line of the companies that make them. The primary problem is we insist on using pigment stain on woods that do not take pigment stains well (pine,maple,cherry,birch,poplar et.al.) Lets us know what you are going to do next.

Regards

Jerry

enormo · 02-07-2008, 08:34 PM

I'm going to try a couple of test spots with chemical stripper/sandpaper. I'll let you know how it goes.
Thanks!