I just installed new oak doors in my home and now it's time for staining and varnishing. Do any of the forums resident wood experts have any tips or clues as to how to do it successfully ?

Interior or exterior door?

Take your time. The dark open grain of oak will suck up stain, and sometimes it spits it back out at a later time. Stain and wait to see if this happens for a couple of days before sealing. I've had this happen after sealing and that project was left with little dark dots forever.

before applying any stain take a damp cloth to the door to raise the grain, and then sand with 120 grit. Repeat a couple times using finer and finer grit.

Then apply stain with a rag getting the coverage as even as you can. Do not be in a hurry.

Let dry, sand with real fine grit paper, apply, repeat, and for a final coat you won't sand after it dries.

Have you considered Rubio Monocoat? It penetrates the wood and protects. I have used it on dining tables to good effect

I would consider a grain-filler and or wood sealer before staining.


Rick

Test it out on a similar piece of wood first.

Test beforehand and you may want to consider a stain preconditioner. With red oak I have encountered splotchy results. I’ve used a lot of Minwax products, they also sell a preconditioner and the are diy recipes on the Internet, usually diluted shellac formulations.

quote:

Rubio Monocoat

good points in here. Remember White oak vs Red oak, one is open grained, the other closed. Makes a difference in how to decide to stain and seal. I'd say study up on it before you go to town. I've worked with both in the past making furniture in college. Oak is a lot of fun to work with but those two varieties are different in terms of finishing. Some guys like to fully, or partially, fill the pores of red oak before staining and sealing. Others like to half-fill them, go keep some texture afterward, some don't fill at all, hut then your top will be very open grained depending on the angle of cut and size and length of the tubular wood cells, and their degree of parallel lay to the surface. Some people have very old growth white oak that is quarter sawn showing gorgeous waves of non-porous curves that take the stain at different rates, called "tiger eye" oak iirc. Used to be very popular in furniture. If you're up to it, you may want to study how to seal oak with an oil instead of a fill and coat, but oiling oak is more involved and not always a good idea for that type of wood.

quote:

Originally posted by BGULL:
Test beforehand and you may want to consider a stain preconditioner. With red oak I have encountered splotchy results. I’ve used a lot of Minwax products, they also sell a preconditioner and the are diy recipes on the Internet, usually diluted shellac formulations.

I've never used a stain preconditioner. I've used a sanding sealer, but that product really messes with the color I try to achieve. I usually use 25 % red mahogany mixed with 75% golden oak to bring out the red. With the sanding sealer it yellows out the final color. Could you recommend a preconditioner, and does it effect the color?

quote:

Originally posted by goose5:

quote:

Originally posted by BGULL:
Test beforehand and you may want to consider a stain preconditioner. With red oak I have encountered splotchy results. I’ve used a lot of Minwax products, they also sell a preconditioner and the are diy recipes on the Internet, usually diluted shellac formulations.

I've never used a stain preconditioner. I've used a sanding sealer, but that product really messes with the color I try to achieve. I usually use 25 % red mahogany mixed with 75% golden oak to bring out the red. With the sanding sealer it yellows out the final color. Could you recommend a preconditioner, and does it effect the color?

I’ve used the Minwax stain conditioner, in conjunction with their stain - finish combination products. With red oak I did not have any problems with the color or tint yellowing. The intent is to prevent the wood absorbing too much stain in those areas that are susceptible to splotching.

quote:

Originally posted by BGULL:

quote:

Originally posted by goose5:

quote:

Originally posted by BGULL:
Test beforehand and you may want to consider a stain preconditioner. With red oak I have encountered splotchy results. I’ve used a lot of Minwax products, they also sell a preconditioner and the are diy recipes on the Internet, usually diluted shellac formulations.

I've never used a stain preconditioner. I've used a sanding sealer, but that product really messes with the color I try to achieve. I usually use 25 % red mahogany mixed with 75% golden oak to bring out the red. With the sanding sealer it yellows out the final color. Could you recommend a preconditioner, and does it effect the color?

I’ve used the Minwax stain conditioner, in conjunction with their stain - finish combination products. With red oak I did not have any problems with the color or tint yellowing. The intent is to prevent the wood absorbing too much stain in those areas that are susceptible to splotching.

You could use different things for a preconditioner, aka sealer, as long as it's diluted so as not to completely seal the grain (defeating the purpose), and is chemically compatible with whatever's going on top. But if you're looking at a Minwax product, go for it, Minwax is good stuff for anything they sell.

Thanks gentlemen I'll give it go next time.

quote:

Originally posted by RIC.45:
I would consider a grain-filler and or wood sealer before staining.


Rick

^^^This. Apply a sanding sealer first (might even take two coats depending on how much the wood sucks up). Let dry and finely sand as the sealer will raise the grain slightly. After that, apply whatever stain you're using as evenly as possible. I loathe large open grain species like oak when is comes to finishing with a stain, but with the right approach, the results can look pretty good.

Thanks for all the advice. I will start the job tomorrow.