Finishing plywood and pine together

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Duane...

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Hi all,

New here, bit of an amateur woodworker, but playing around with a few projects

Making a simple clock. The face is generic plywood, and the number markings are planed pine stripwood. The markings have been glued to the face, and there are exposed end grains.

I am now trying to finish it - ideally want a even dark brown finish, but with the grain visible. I have been playing around with some test pieces, and have bought Wilkos Indian Rosewood and Jacobean Dark Oak traditional wood dyes.

The plywood absorbs substantially more dye than the pine. I've tried sanding the pine rougher to absorb more, leaving the dye to sit on the surface before running off, but no luck - it is still at best a light brown, while the plywood is a much nicer dark brown after one coat. Plus, the yellow tint of the pine shows through. Also, the end grain of the pine stains way darker than the other surfaces (as expected).

Any suggestions? I'm thinking maybe a thicker dark brown coloured varnish, which will hide the grain somewhat, but hopefully give a more uniform finish on the two woods? Or the products which are called stains, but seem to be coloured varnishes?

Any thoughts or input would be great!

Cheers,
Duane.
 
What about a couple of coats of sanding sealer, sanded flat, followed by a tinted clear coat. If using waterbased paint, a couple of drops of (water based) dye should do the trick. Don't sand this and then clear coat over this.

…and welcome.
 
Thanks for the quick reply.

I've looked into sanding sealant for previous projects, but never found anywhere to buy it in the UK (without ordering online) - can it be bought on the highstreet? Or is there a way to make it?

Could I use a clear coat of varnish (or even dilute pva) to seal and then coloured varnish over?
 
Yup, I've used Chestnut products. You can get them easily online. Can't comment on buying them in real shops, why go into a shop when it means dealing with a real person? Heh heh.
 
Was hoping to crack on with finishing this ASAP!

So would dilute PVA or clear varnish not be a suitable substitution for sanding sealer, if you're just trying to stop seal the wood?
 
Neil - thanks so much, went there today and got some Liberon sanding sealer.

Will do a couple coats of sealer, and then try layer up dark oak varnish to get a good finish. A quick test piece doesn't look too dark, but hopefully I can build it up with enough coats!
 

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