quote:

Originally posted by cne32507:
Minwax stain has a "finish" product included. Used to be Tung Oil, now I don't know. Trying to stain over it without removing the shit will not turn out well.

Not all of them.

I could be wrong, but even if that's the case, if he uses another stain from the same line of Minwax stains (traditional yellow can oil-base stains assumed, as I have no experience with the water-based stuff), the oils in the new coat of stain will (in theory) re-wet the stuff that's already there, at least on the top coat (which is hopefully far enough down that the desired effect is achieved).

OP, if the other suggestions here don't provide enough change, you could try a wood bleaching solution as a last-ditch effort to save the project. (Just remember not to use actual bleach. I've seen it used, and while it does work it has a tendency to dissolve the wood. )

ETA: Looking over the stain now, it appears to me that what it really needs is a gloss finish to give the deep reds some depth. Here's a table top I did earlier this year with red oak slats and red oak stain. I sealed this one with a bartop epoxy, which may be a bit thick for your application, but I also had amazing results with spray lacquer followed with super high grit (800-2000) sandpaper, car polish and elbow grease. It just wasn't as thick.

Put some satin urethane over it. You may be surprised that it looks ok? It doesn't look terrible to me..

Don't do anything to the actual work until you know how it will look. Any clear finish you apply now will make editing later very difficult. Experiment on scraps.

Woodworker's warehouse in Salt Lake County has a guy who works there who knows a lot about gel stains. They have products several notches above the Home Depot variety. The guy there (I wish I remembered his name) helped me last year complete a staining project that ended up being complicated and technical. I'd call them and see what he thinks would work best.

I'd love to hear more about your large format camera project.

I see glue spots all over it, I would take lacquer thinner and wipe as much of the stain off as possible then re sand it making sure you remove the glue spots, get some dye stain at Sherwin Williams, they will mix any color you want stain it wait a day for it to off gas then spray 1 coat sealer 3 coats lacquer lightly sanding with 320 between coats just to knock off the nubs and you will be fine.

32 years in the cabinetmaking business.

Don't use steel wool on oak:

quote:

I assume the oxalic acid worked for you. Just want to suggest not to use steel wool and water on raw wood, especially white oak. Any little shreds of wet steel wool on the white oak will make little black spots (like distressing) and you will have to use oxalic acid again. Nylon scrubbing pads (ScotchBrite) would be appropriate.

It will leave black flecks in the wood.

The traditional way of staining oak which works very well is with ammonia. Normal stains are taken up more by the soft part of the wood; depending on whether it's flat-sawn or quarter-sawn (yours looks like flat-sawn) the difference in color between the soft and hard parts may be too great.
We tried matching some doug fir baseboard that had aged in place. Found that the stain take-up left the dark part of the wood the opposite of what had occurred with natural exposure to light. Staining is tricky.

quote:

Originally posted by deepocean:
I'd love to hear more about your large format camera project.

Well, if I can get the wood looking nicer, I'll be sure to post some pictures. I still have to make a bellows and ground glass.

quote:

Originally posted by XLT:
I see glue spots all over it

It's actually Polka-dot oak I don't know why, but I find gluing to be one of the hardest parts of woodworking.

quote:

Originally posted by XLT:
... then spray 1 coat sealer 3 coats lacquer lightly sanding with 320 between coats just to knock off the nubs and you will be fine.

What are the benefits of spray-on lacquer vs brush-on?

quote:

Originally posted by 4x5:

quote:

Originally posted by XLT:
... then spray 1 coat sealer 3 coats lacquer lightly sanding with 320 between coats just to knock off the nubs and you will be fine.

What are the benefits of spray-on lacquer vs brush-on?

Lacquer dries in seconds. Well, not completely dry, but the open time -the time in which one can work it- is seconds. So spraying is the only way to go unless you buy a brushing lacquer. Then your open time is around 60 seconds. Better, but you kinda need to be comfortable with a brush and recognize when the open time is closing. Also, lacquer is a chemically hot product which when applied with a brush over wiping stain, can act as a solvent and smear your color. It's not a problem unless you over-work the lacquer and can't leave well enough alone. You can buy rattle cans of lacquer at paint stores still in the valley, but home improvement centers don't carry it anymore here since our conservative legislature went all global warming on us and changed VOC regs. You can use long oils varnish, but that is a royal pain since dry time is hours. The up side is that you have a 20 min open time for those who like stroking a brush over the material all day.

What I do is wait for the stain to flash/dry then I spray a few coats of lacquer sealer. Allow to dry. Sand with a fine 3m sanding sponge. Hit it with a dust brush and spray 3 coats of lacquer finish. Easy peasy. You can do it all with the rattle cans, but to get the same mils thickness of lacquer as an airless, you'll need to quadruple the coats. The contents of rattlecans is very thin.