/diy/ - Do It Yourself

[Anonymous No.1665112]

Okay, so wood.

I want to stain a bunch of wood red to make some projects with.

I read there are three steps to doing this.

>Pre-Condition
>Stain
>Protect

The thing I have is this Varnish/Polyurethane mix, so that leaves the conditioner.

Thing Home Depot doesn't seem to sell it and no employees seem to know what I'm talking about.

The thing they gave me was a sanding sealer that had lacquer in the name, but from what I have understood that's the final step, not the base layer.

Is a pre-conditioner necessary for a good stain?

[Anonymous No.1665131]

>>1665112
if you have the other stuff already just read the instructions see what it says.
then post more pics.

[Anonymous No.1665181]

>>1665112
Picture gave me wood

[Anonymous No.1665183]

>>1665112
>Is a pre-conditioner necessary for a good stain?
No, simply no.

The thing that makes a good stain job is PATIENCE and NEATNESS

There is nothing to it, it is actually a very hard thing for younger guys to do simply because it requries so much waiting and drying and repition.

[Anonymous No.1665185]

>>1665112
Not necessarily depends on the type of wood. Some woods take stain less evenly than others and a conditioner would help with that, but it's not a required step.

[Anonymous No.1665188]

>>1665183
>No, simply no.

>never stained pine.
>never stained a sappy wood.
>never stained wood with lots of runout

What have you actually stained?

[Anonymous No.1665192]

>>1665112
Wood conditioner is used on softwoods to prevent staining blotches. You can also use it on hardwoods to get a lighter stain color but it is not necessary. Sanding sealer is an extra step that is sometimes used before the final protective layer, personally I've never found the need for it. The idea behind it is to fill in any voids in the stained wood so you can then do a final sanding, clean it, and put your final protective finish so it comes out smooth af. With that being said, fuck stain

[Anonymous No.1665227]

>>1665112
>The thing I have is this Varnish/Polyurethane mix
That's the good stuff. Just goop it on.

[Anonymous No.1665266]

>>1665192
You don't like staining? I know it comes out plasticy with Polyurethane, but I'm only gonna make some wall shelves and a jank jerry rigged headrest.

I'm only doing so to match the rest of my apartment. Got some custom made handmedown brazilian furniture from my friend who moved away like 5 years back and it's really good shit. Plain wood color would clash with it.

[Anonymous No.1665268]

>>1665112
where is that pic from?

[Anonymous No.1665276]

>>1665268
I'm really not sure. I was jerking it to Kamehasutra and found it in some thread on /gif/.

[Anonymous No.1665292]

>>1665188
lots of oak,
lots of birch
lots of maple

never once have i used any conditioner, just sand paper and stain.

Also a big fan of tung oil.

For finishing i usually do it indoors so use water base polycrylic, except when im doing outdoor stuff in which case ill use oil based varathane.

[Anonymous No.1665304]

>>1665112
>Okay, so wood.
>>1665181
>Picture gave me wood
any of them

[Anonymous No.1665340]

>>1665112
>Okay, so wood.
I have it.

[Anonymous No.1665341]

>>1665112
>that belly on left

[Anonymous No.1665371]

>>1665266
For softwoods I fucking hate staining; never liked the way it looks, with or without conditioner. I'd rather use dyes, or any of the finishing oils like tung or linseed oil. All three are shit in the durability aspect though and so you still need to use a protective finish. And pretty much all protectors suck ass on softwoods for they dent so fucking easily. Still provided you aren't dancing on the fucking thing with heels you should be alright. For protective finishes it's either 2k polyurethane, epoxy or polycarbonate, fuck conversion varnish only retarded boomers still use it. I lean more towards polycarbonate for ease of application and the least toxic out of all of them. Epoxy is a time consuming often unnecessary pain in the shithole if you're doing anything more than flat tops. 2k polyurethane is a little less time consuming than epoxy for you can easily spray it and is more forgiving when mixing the two components together, but still probably the most dangerous of the finishes second only to conversion varnish. In the end all of them are hard abrasion resistant finishes that will serve you well for as long as they last. However if you ever need to repair a certain area or remove them for whatever the reason they will be a pain in the dick. Now if you are tap dancing on whatever you're building with stilettos go with a hardwax finish like rubio monocoat or pallmann magic oil, the shit is flexible, easy to apply, waterproof, pretty durable and unlike the others very easy to repair, it is not urine proof however so don't pee in it fool. Another thing is that you can not make it glossy it only finishes in one form and that form is matte. Good luck faggot.

[Anonymous No.1665425]

>>1665371
Thanks, nig. I won't be tapdancing on it, so I guess I got that going for me.

Once I get the wood from a friend, I'll post some pics.

[Anonymous No.1665658]

>>1665112
>the conditioner.
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Minwax-32-fl-oz-Wood-Conditioner/999913699

>>1665112
>Home Depot doesn't seem to sell it
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Varathane-1-qt-Wood-Conditioner-342087/305704375

[Anonymous No.1665663]

>>1665292
Yes, those are all woods that take stains well, opposed to the ones that I listed which take it poorly and tend to go splotchy without some sort of primer coat, or conditioner as it tends to be called these days.

So to recap, your first post where you said all it takes is PATIENCE and NEATNESS was pure arrogance based upon the ignorant assumption that all wood finishes the same as the few species you have worked with.

[Anonymous No.1665670]

>>1665192
>on hardwoods to get a lighter stain color but it is not necessary.
Conditioners can do more than that for hardwoods, Anytime you have a good amount end grain showing and you want that end grain to be uniform in color, so the ends of dovetails or tenons that are visible, or cuts of wood that expose endgrain, burl, crotch or just a poorly cut board

>Sanding sealer is an extra step
Sanding sealer fills the pores of the wood, the will give the wood a smooth look and feel with consistent color over time. Some woods have very small pores, like cherry or walnut and you can get that smooth look without filling, woods like oak and ash have large pores to the point that sometimes you can not even get a smooth feel let alone look without filling. It is mostly an aesthetic decision, some like the contrast of the pores, some do not.

[Anonymous No.1665679]

>>1665670
Forgot to say, some hardwoods like some mahoganies and the true cedars, can be difficult to get an even finish on without a conditioner/sealer/filler.

[Anonymous No.1665684]

>>1665112
Kill, fuck, marry left to right.

[Anonymous No.1665704]

>>1665679
Doh, brain fart. not the true cedars of the old world, Cedrus, not Cedrela of the new world, which are types of mahogany. Cedrus is a softwood. Always confuse them because Spanish Cedar is not Spanish at all and is a new world fake cedar of Cedrela.

[Anonymous No.1665713]

>>1665684
Pretty sure you meant kill, fuck, fuck marry left to right.

[Anonymous No.1666731]

>>1665713
they all have nice tiddies so whatever m8

[Anonymous No.1666881]

>>1665112
go to hardware stores
you can get stain & polyurethane

>pre-conditioning
make sure you clean the wood of dust and debris with a clean wet rag
staining brings out the grain in wood keep this in mind & plan accordingly, certain stains are better on certain woods, darker for thinner grain lighter for wider/patterned grain.
>staining
you need to choose what color stain you desire
stains are often near the paint aisle in home depot/hardware stores
you need paint brushes (recomended)/a rag to apply the stain
you need rags to wipe away excess stain
>remember to always stain in the direction with the wood grain or it looks like shit
use multiple coats & wipe excess as you see fit, the longer you leave excess the darker the stain will be
after staining let dry 24 hours
>protecting/treating
then cover with polyurethane (this will have a slight yellow tinge of coloration) or clear wood/deck sealant
after multiple layers of sealant is applied allow to dry for another 24 hours.