Warming up a stain

[Steve Maskery]

Hi all
I've made a bed out of canary and stained it with Indian Rosewood by Colron. I rvery rarely use stains of any sort and this is not my strong point. It's come out a bit nuttier than I wanted, and I have a couple of questions.

1 Are spirit stains based on methylated spirit or white spirit?
2 Can I warm the colour up a bit by putting some Peruvian Mahogany Colron in my lacquer (Chestnut Melamine).

Thanks very much.

 

[Anonymous]

Sorry Steve, no idea but am interestd as I find stains pretty tricky and worry like hell before trying them on something I made

 

[Terry Smart]

Hi Steve

Annoyingly, there doesn't seem to be a standard meaning for 'spirit stain', I have been told that some of the confusion occurs because the phrase means something different on the other side of the pond, but I could be wrong about that.

The answer is that, as far as I know, Colron and Rustins spirit stains are white spirit based, ours and Liberon's are meths based. There should be some clue on the label, either stated or just simply that meths based stains will be 'Highly Flammable', white spirit stains just 'Flammable' (again, as far as I know!).

You can add our Spirit Stain to our Melamine Lacquer quite happily, but not a white spirit based stain (white spirit and cellulose based products don't like each other). Sorry this isn't the answer you were hoping for!

 

[Steve Maskery]

Thanks Terry, helpful as always.
And yes, your're right, it's not the answer I was hoping for!
I think I'll leave it as it is.

Edit - I've just re-read your post. I'm pretty sure that my local DIY shop stocks the liberon range (I've got to go over to Derby to get Chestnut, and their range is usually not exactly comprehensive ), so I think I'll try that.

TVM

 

[Steve Maskery]

Well I've had fun and games with this. My local Liberon stockist sold only the water-based range so I decided to do without.
But the moment I started to spray, I noticed something. The rails and legs were the nutty brown I didn't want, but all the slats were just about the right colour, and the more coats I put on the more obvious it became that these were not the same!
The problem was that the legs and rails had been stained with an old tin, and all the slats and cap strips were froma new tin. It really didn't look good.
So off I went to a specialist finishing suppliers. I'd never used them, but a mate recommended them. I took along my offending parts.
"I have a problem", says I.
"Aven't you just!", replies he.
"Do you have a magic tin that will make everything wonderful?", ask I.
"John! C'm'ere!", yells he.
Well it turns out that John has been colour-matching for 20 years and knows more about it than I do. Apparently the red used in Colron is red oxide, and it all sinks to the bottom and goes hard, so you have to stir it up a bit more than I did otherwise all the red is left behind and you get a generic brown colour.
He also had a range of methanol-based dyes, including one called New Rosewood, compatible with my Chestnut lacquer. He even tried an aerosol can of it on the bottom of the post to see what it would look like.
I spent very little money, but nevertheless got lots of expert advice without being made to feel a fool.
I only wish I could remember who they are! Just an unmemorable set of initials, but they are at Moor Green, north of Nottingham. Excellent service.
I've messed the legs up, being in too much of a hurry, so I'll have to wait until they go hard and then sand and spray again, but I'm dead chuffed about the colour.

 

[Paul Chapman]

That's really interesting, Steve - thanks for sharing it with us. Finishing is full of pitfalls (statement of the obvious, really ) but it's good to know that sometimes there's a way out :wink:

Paul

 

[houtslager]

That's really interesting, Steve - thanks for sharing it with us. Finishing is full of pitfalls (statement of the obvious, really Embarassed ) but it's good to know that sometimes there's a way out Wink

nah not quite true imho !
these problems generally occur when makers - BOTH PRO and hobby just do not think their design through.
FINISH has to be thought of in the DESIGN phase- otherwise BIG problems happen. I've seen to many horror stories to mention here
( and if I did , I more then likely be killed for telling tales )

Once the finish has been decided on, I generally make up a sample board with the stains / polish / lacquer board.
This is given to the client with out tech info or material info. I let them choose on the colour and feel of the finish.

Now the final thing with finishes is to REMEMBER NOT to RUSH IT