/diy/ - Do It Yourself

[Anonymous No.509459]

Hey all

Ive been trying to stain some 3/4" birch plywood for a project. I keep getting this crap in pic related. It stays sticky after all the stain dries.

After it is stained it scrapes off poorly. I have given the boards a decent sanding and what I think is a good cleaning, and I cant even see these particulates before stain is applied.

Any help?

[Zombi No.509482]

Birch is a pain to stain evenly. Sand it and wipe it down with a hot thinner like acetone to leach any resin or oil out of the surface. Let it dry. Use a prestain conditioner on it. Let it soak in for 15 minutes and wipe off the excess. Then apply stain and let stand for about 15 minutes. Wipe off the excess. Give it overnight to dry. If that doesn't do the trick you may want to consider water based stains. Then set more of the color on the surface instead of down in the wood like oil stains. They aren't as easy to work with but can get better results in some cases.

[Anonymous No.509483]

Did you RTFM?

Most stains are wipe off, meaning after you let the stain sit on the wood for whatever directed amount (usually <30 min) you're supposed to wipe off the excess stain with a rag before letting the rest dry.

[Zombi No.509484]

Also, what are you wiping it off with? If you are talking about the particles that look white in the photo that can be the rag you are wiping it with. What kind of stain are you using?

[Anonymous No.509491]

>>509482
Like a sanding sealer? I am using a water-based Minwax stuff. Not the best on the market, but definitely above wal-mart grade. Shop towel for majority, then a cotton rag for the remainder. The stuff I am talking about are the black patches on it. Supposed to be all dark walnut, but there are patches of crap on it that make some areas look like charcoal, and also leave a huge lump from the spots. Like a combination of sawdust and resin.

>>509483
I have been wiping off the excess stain, almost immediatly actually. This is the only time ive run into this before, and Ive been doing similar things for quite a while at work (carpenter).

[Zombi No.509493]

Yep the dark spots are uneven absorption. Birch is one of those woods that does not take stain evenly. A prestain conditioner is basically a clear oil that you apply before stain. It fills up the pores of the wood so when you apply the stain it doesn't penetrate as far into the thirstier areas of wood. Basically you'll get a more even result. Conditioners are meant for soft woods like this that stain blotchy. I'm not sure they make a conditioner for waterbased stains though. I've only ever seen it for oil. The issue with waterborne stains is how fast they dry. They act more like thin paint than a stain.

[Zombi No.509495]

It looks like Minwax does make a conditioner for waterbased stains. I have no experience using it though.

[Anonymous No.509499]

>>509495
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCCnuNqN2jw

[Anonymous No.509504]

>>509493
Ill look into it, thanks. Ive stained birch many times before.

It is not just uneven staining though. Those black spots are residue. Like is someone poured a bunch of wax on it. Maybe sealing it would prevent that too.