# Beech wood. Pre stain and finish ?



## Jean (2 Jan 2014)

Hello I'm jean.

And I was wondering if anyone could give me advice
And I'm making a desk. And I got a 155 by 75 cm desk top (beech wood. )

I want to stain it walnut colour. On a American site it said to use pre stain wood conditioner first and than the walnut stain. 

But they don't have wood conditioner in the uk. 

Can any one advice me what to use?. 

Also as finish polyurethane to seal wood because it gives an additional amber look to the wood. 
Or is it better to use another finish? 

Thank you! 
Jean


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## mrpercysnodgrass (3 Jan 2014)

Hello Jean, I have never heard of a pre stain conditioner and I cant think what it might be. If you want to stain your beech to a walnut colour you can use a variety of stains, spirit, water or naptha would be the ones that you would find in most DIY stores and any of these will work well on beech. Make sure you damp the timber before your final sanding of 240 grit, stain to your desired shade and then apply your finish.
polyurethane will be good and tough for a desk top but you could also consider a hard wax oil which will be easier to maintain in the future.


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## Sgian Dubh (3 Jan 2014)

mrpercysnodgrass":e2i5vptx said:


> I have never heard of a pre stain conditioner and I cant think what it might be.


It's an American thing really. Basically, if the plan is to use an oil or naphtha based stain or dye on woods prone to blotching, e.g., many softwoods, and some hardwoods such as cherry and hard maple, the appropriate pre-conditioner is a mix of essentially white spirits and some resins (usually unspecified on the tin). Apply the pre-conditioner and the resins in it partially block the more open and porous pores of the wood prior to colouring up, with the idea that this leads to a more even colouring up job. There's a similar water based pre-conditioner for water based dyes and stains.

I never really bothered with the stuff when I lived in the US because I can get a similar effect by thinning out dewaxed blonde shellac (a lot) and brushing a light coat on, followed up by a light sanding prior to applying the stain or dye. 

Aside from that I have nothing to add to your already good advice to Jean. Slainte.


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## Jean (3 Jan 2014)

Thank you both for your advice!.


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## Silas Gull (3 Jan 2014)

A pre-stain is anything that homogenises the porosity of the surface of your work-piece to prevent unsightly blotches to areas where the pores of the wood grain are open. A knocked-back shellac/alcohol mix is often used, but any diluted clear varnish or filler will achieve the same thing. This aspect of woodworking is a science in itself, and can be very frustrating to a beginner. Whole libraries could be filled with the why's and wherefore' s of stains, gels, tints etc. I would recommend you do you research and practice on a scrap sample before committing a particular material & technique to a project.


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## Jean (8 Jan 2014)

I've done a lot of wood work as I did it as a part of my study but never used staining on wood I researched about it but it was all American and they don't sell the same products here in the uk , so I wasn't sure what to use, its a good idea to use on a sample first ! 


thank you for your reply


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