Stain, Varnish and Pine

I have both stained and varnished (with and without staining first) pine many many times.

Varnish (ie : clear coat protection) has no issues over pine at all.  Just follow the instructions for the varnish (Typically you will do one coat, allow it to dry completely, lightly sand with fine grit sandpaper and then apply a 2nd coat, allow it to dry completely and VERY lightly sand/buff with the finest sandpaper you can get to provide a nice smooth finish).

Stains :

• If you don’t sand at all, you will have issues with consistancy from my experience.
• If you don’t do a good job sanding, you will have issues as the stain will pull out any imperfections and make them glaringly obvious
• If you do a good sanding job (start with a rough grade, and work your way down to a very fine grade sandpaper and do a nice smooth job without any cutmarks/gouges) then pine will take stain quite well so long as you do an entire surface at once.  If you allow it to dry before finishing a surface you will end up with odd lines between the areas that you did.

I find if you apply stain with a rag rather than a brush it works better (though it will use more stain in the end from the rag soaking it up and you should definately wear gloves) and provides a more consistant finish.

Let the stain dry completely (I usually give anywhere from 24-48 hours at room temperature) before applying the protective varnish coat.

Excellent advice!

elzario,

––I completely agree with the excellent advice “IWillNeverGrowUp” gave you. I might only suggest that a thick sponge might be even easier to control the application of the stain and make larger applications possible. Keep up the good work.

“Tall Paul”

When I was going through the message board, I looked at this post title a little too quickly and I thought that the first word was “Stalin”.  :)

All good advice.  The preparation with sanding is paramount.

The other thing that is important with Pine (as well as other softer woods) is the sap and moisture content.

There is a product called “Wood Conditioner” that can be applied to woods like Pine to help make the wood take the stain more consistently.  I also know some painters that prefer to dampen the material slightly prior to staining.  Going to a good paint store and talking to them would set you in the right direction from a preparation standpoint.

The stain conditioner is not expensive at all.

All staining MDF will do is take on some of the colour characteristics of the stain.  But much darker than the surrounding pine since it starts so much lighter.

I would recommend you paint the MDF.  Maybe in colours to suit each nation.  Then as you say, roudels would finish it off nicely and make each compartment very destinctive for each nation.

No not necessarily.  Most stains can be applied in any position.  I have applied stain in all positions.  Of course it is always easier to be working on a horizontal surface simply because you are above the material with gravity working for you and can see clearly.  But it is not necessary.

The only real keys to success are: surface preparation(sanding and cleaning), controlling the amount of stain being applied during each pass/application,  duplicating the application process (amount applied and the time to remove excess) each time, and lastly but most importantly… always applying stain with the grain of the wood.

@elzario:

Will all the parts that I am staining need to be flat?  Like when doing the sides am I going to have to tip the table on its side and leave it flat until it dries?

In all honestly if you’re applying nice even (and properly thin) coats of stain to a properly prepped surface it will soak right in to the wood.  I’ve applied stains upside down, sideways and flat with no problems (other than contorting your body to get to the location to be stained).

As Hepps mentioned, always apply WITH the grain (not against) and prepare the surface properly, combined with controlled application will go a long way to a successful job.  2 thin applications are in almost all cases better than one thick application too.

Doing a clear varnish on top it may be a good idea to have it flat so that the varnish does not run, but again if it’s done in thin even coats it may not be a problem … but better safe than sorry on that.

elzario,

––You’re getting some EXCELLENT advise here from these guys that I completely agree with. Just remember NOT to get in a hurry and you’ll do fine.

“Tall Paul”

One last thing for you.

Before you start on the table itself…

I highly recommend you take some of you excess materials (or go buy one more good sized piece of pine if you were left with no good off-cuts) and do testing of stain applications.

This will allow you to get a feel for how the stain is taking to the material.  It will also allow you to see how many layers of stain it will take to get the desired shade.  What “Iwillnevergrowup” said is completely and 100% true… 2 or three light coats will ALWAYS yield better results than trying to do one heavy coat.

Good luck.  Look forward to seeing shots of the finished table.

GREAT reference post, gonna need it……