stain that will reduce oak grain

7年前

we are building a house and have custom built oak cabinets. we like oak for the sturdiness and price. we will be staining them with hopes for a medium to dark finish and minimizing the wood grain. We also have never stained before and hope for advice on what stain to use that is easiest as well as hide some of the wood grain. we are fine with the grain, just hoping to find a color or brand that will not show the grain drastically darker. have looked into penetrating stains as well as gel. which ones are easier and cover more?

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PRO

Beth H. :

7年前

最終更新：7年前

you have never stained or done any wood finishing and are going to start w/your new cabinets??? Perhaps you should go to this forum and read for many hours. Educating yourself and doing research on different stains would be really helpful. I will say, 'do not use Minwax". Try Varathane or General Finishes. Get sandpaper in varying grits, 80-220. Mineral spirits or Nhaptha if you can get it.

Here is the link to the wood finishing forum. Lots of good info from the pros over here. http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/forum.php

go to wood finishing and search "staining cabinets". plenty of discussions ought to come up. You may have to register to search, i'm not sure.

BTW, nothing is going to cover the grain except a grain filler. embrace the grain of the oak or go w/something like maple. Red oak tends to have more of a course grain than white oak.

Aniline dyes actually penetrate the wood. the others tend to sit on top, although the gels sink in a bit. Do not use multiple coats, two at the most! if you want it darker, go w/a darker stain. Always practice on some test pieces first.

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コメント (19)

PRO
Strott & Company, LLC.
7年前
The closer the stain to the color of the wood, the less you see it. The grain is open so stain is thicker in the open parts and shows up as such. A really dark stain might work also. I would get a scrap piece of oak and some small cans of stain and do samples until you find one you like.
R J
質問の投稿者
7年前
what would be the difference between a gel stain and a penetrating stain. it was suggested to me to use the penetrating, but it seems like the gel might cover the grain better.
PRO
Solar Texas
7年前
There's also some good advice online. I like stains that I can thin and mix and customize rather than apply straight out of the can. Only problem is that you need to keep exact quantities of the amounts you mixed to be able to replicate the outcome.
User
7年前
最終更新：7年前
Train wreck. Your cabinet maker should produce already finished cabinets, or you shouldn't be buying from him. Staining is only part of finishing. It ain't for amateurs. Or you should buy commercially produced cabinets. No amount of ''savings'' is worth ruining all of your cabinets.
PRO
Beth H. :
7年前
最終更新：7年前
I can't emphasize again on doing your homework and practicing on something first. Wood finishing is not like painting. I've been doing it for years and it is a lot of work to get right. here are some pics of stained oak cabinets that have gone badly.

this one is Gel stain
R J
質問の投稿者
7年前
I am getting some help from my mother in law who stained her whole kitchen and they turned out absolutely perfect. however she went with a really light stain from minwax. when i tried moinwax in a darker color, it looked like this. thin light streaks throughout.
R J
質問の投稿者
7年前
i then used Sherwin Williams and it turned out much smoother. thought of trying general finishes gel, but is that a penetrating stain? will it come out uneven?
PRO
Beth H. :
7年前
最終更新：7年前
you must use a pre-stain conditioner. grain like that will have different absorption points. some will come out darker, lighter and blotchy. do not use minwax. i'm glad your MIL liked it. does your wood look just like that? its a very heavy grain. you will never hide that. embrace it and like it, or get something else.

Because you are a complete novice, there is way too much involved to give a complete how to on here. Ditto for comparing gel, stains and dyes. Go buy yourself a book, otherwise I'd be typing for days!

as I've said, do your homework and research the other site for 'correct' how to. if you just google "how to stain cabinets", you're at the mercy of any hack who does a youtube video.
R J
質問の投稿者
7年前
unfortunately this is a piece of wood from the cabinets. they are just about finished. just the faces need to be done.
PRO
Beth H. :
7年前
lol. ok, well in your original post you sounded like, "i've never done this please help". Now they're almost finished?? what exactly is it u want help with? The grain? ain't gonna happen. The stain? You just said they were almost finished. you want to switch to something else?? I don't get it.
R J
質問の投稿者
7年前
sorry, the cabinets are almost finished being built. he is about to make the face of them. we have not started staining. sorry for the confusion!
R J
質問の投稿者
7年前
just so you know we don't have the option of switching wood type:)
R J
質問の投稿者
7年前
your post was very helpful. it kind of confirmed my hesitation about minwax. i think I'll research that website you gave me and maybe try the general finishes.
PRO
Beth H. :
7年前
最終更新：7年前
ah ok. gotcha. make sure he gives you plenty of scrap wood for you to practice and sample.

and yes, there is no way for me to give u instructions here. way too involved. you will have read a book to familiarize yourself w/basic wood finishing and read through the posts over at the forum site to further educate yourself. If you don't, I can promise you that you will be back here asking to 'how to fix these'. Perhaps you could pay a pro to finish them for you??? At the very least have someone spray on a top coat, factory finish, for you. Trust me.
tatts
7年前
A blanket statement like "do not use Minwax" is useless and pointless. It's a useless and pointless as saying "don't by anything except Minwax".

I have used Minwax products over the years and never had a problem.
PRO
Beth H. :
7年前
最終更新：7年前
tatts,,,,i have too. but they aren't the best. He's new and asked. If you go to where the pros hang out and talk about issues and techniques, every single one of them will say the same thing about Minwax. I've used enough products to know the difference. while Minwax is ok, it would not be the first, second or third choice when doing a big project like cabinets. He asked for a brand. I said "don't use Minwax". My opinion and he asked for one. Not useless and pointless. If he wants to know why, i'll explain.
jhmarie
7年前
I used a gel stain when refinishing my oak cabinets - as a stain on stripped wood, not over finished wood. I did find I was able to control the amount of stain that got in the grain better. It does take longer to dry. I've used a couple of different brands of gel stain and found the Miniwax hard to work with, though I have not had trouble with their regular stains.
PRO
Beth H. :
7年前
RJ,,,i found these links over there that might give you a bit of insight. I didn't read the entire thing but they talk about gel stains on kitchen cabs, how to sand, etc.

http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f8/kitchen-cabinet-stain-top-coat-varnish-finish-60748/

http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f8/gel-stain-will-not-dry-need-advice-123753/

http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f8/sanding-red-oak-37866/