WWLT

Hello all, and thank you in advance for the advice.

I am in the finishing stages of completing my son's new dresser. Unfortunately, I began to apply the finish in an area that was not well lit. I am using an oil based stain on Aspen that was treated with a pre-stain conditioner. I am applying the stain using an old t-shirt because I have never had much luck with a brush.

Due to the poor lighting, I neglected to see that I was stopping my stroke in the same place each and every time and now have a line of built up extra finish towards the bottom. Apparently I neglected to revers direction to even out the stroke. Now I have a build up in a noticeable line across the bottom. This happened while applying the second coat.

How can I go back and fix this? Sanding? A third coat?

Please help!!!!

rrich

Lacquer Thinner usually removes much of the stain, but not all. I would use the LT and try to feather the edges. If that doesn't work, use the LT to remove as much of the stain from the surface and then re-stain.

C A U T I O N

Lacquer thinner is very flammable and should not be used in an enclosed space such as a basement or garage with the door closed.

__________________
Use the right tool for the job.

Rich (Tilting right)
Huntington Beach, California
Remember that when we have the "BIG ONE" everything east of the Rockies falls into the ocean.

JW_in_Indy

Just another thought to add to what rrich said.... if the stain has dried and set for a while, you might need to rub the piece with #0000 steel wool dipped in paint thinner and lightly rub the surface rinsing out the steel wool often. Don't press real hard.... just a light tough to feather in the dark spots. Then if needed, lightly sand with some #180 (again, just a light touch with the sanding block), wipe off the dust with a soft cloth dipped in paint thinner and wrung out and give it one more coat of stain to even everything out.

As long as you haven't finished it yet, you should probably be ok.

Good luck.

cabinetman

A suggestion if wet wiping doesn't feather it out. Using a solvent may remove most of the stain, but it will cause deep penetration of the stain into the wood. If sanding becomes necessary allow the area to completely dry out, before sanding. You might try scraping with a card scraper, or a sharp chisel bevel up and used only backwards (pull stroke).

WWLT

Thank you for the advice thus far. I do have LT and Mineral Spirits. I would like to try something a little less aggressive than LT to start, but I am afraid that it has set a little too long (almost a week now). So I may have to try the LT.

It's a little upsetting considering I was very pleased with how this project was going. It is only my third real furniture project and so far had been going much better than any previous. We'll see.

Thanks again.