Staining wood

[dhermesc]

I stained some wood last night have problem with certain parts being much darker than the rest. It was all well sanded with 150 grit and oil stained a walnut color but a few parts (all one peice of wood) are much darker than the rest. Any ideas on how to "lighten" those areas? Or do I sand it all down and start over?

 

[Gun guru]

Is the wood pine? or another soft wood.
If its a soft wood then you may need a wood conditioner that is put on Before you stain.

I have had the best luck with Minwax wood stain for interior wood trim, cabinets.

 

[dhermesc]

I don't know what wood it is. It's whatever Savage used for gun stocks 20 years ago.

 

[k9mills]

Savage used beech, birch and maple for the stocks of their lower priced line. I suspect that you are dealing with a maple stock. Minwax is probably the most versatile stain out there however, it will not yield uniform results on gun stocks because it is a particulate suspended in an oil base and some portions of the wood absorb the stain differently or not at all. You might try an analine base stain which is absorbed much more uniformly in hardwoods. Analine stains can be ordered from most woodworking supply houses such as "Woodworker's Supply" in small quantities and isn't tremendously expensive. You can also do what the Savage folks originally did and that is to mix your stain with the varnish finish and spray it on the stock until you get a uniform finish. An old gunsmith trick is to heat the varnish to around 150 degrees and then spray it. I don't have the patience, but my wife applies a heavy coat of minwax without wiping and lets it dry. Then she applies a heavy coat of spar varnish or urethane and wipes it into the surface with a soft cloth and rubs or brushes it until it disolves part of the stain underneath and she gets a uniform color. This procedure especially works well with Oak. Good luck with your project.
KM

 

[dhermesc]

Thanks for the reply.

The mud brown spray on finish is what I sanded off. The analine base stain sounds like the way to go. I had gotten away with simply sanding and staining in the past with fairly nice results on other beaten up stocks, but not so in this case. So I guess I'm stuck sanding off the recently applied stain so I can start over?

 

[the tractor vet]

From what i have learned about staining is that i never use anything above a 120 grit and New wood does not stain up like old wood Also how did you apply the stain with a brush of rag. I use a soft rag when staining . The end results suite me and got a few AT AH BOY's on my work .