Stain

[Ned Trout]

I've been asked to stain a pine picture frame. It's an inexpensive unfinished frame that, unfortunately, has a pretty big knot hole that has been filled with what I assume is epoxy of some type. What are my options? Do you think there's any chance the epoxy will take the stain? My first thought was to seal the whole frame with shellac and then stain, but I've never attempted that so I don't know if that will work or not. Making a new frame is not an option. TIA. Ned

[fredhargis]

Well, using the shellac will make things come out more uniform, including the epoxy (to some extent).

[Roly]

As always try on a sample board.  It will be hard to go dark with stain over shellac.   You could add dye to the shellac to make a toner or just buy toner in the shade you want.   If you want to use a stain over shellac, I would suggest a gel stain.     Then top coat after dry.   Roly

[Rob Young]

Well, using the shellac will make things come out more uniform, including the epoxy (to some extent).

You can also add dyes (Transtint for example) to the shellac.

[Joel H.]

An inexpensive, unfinished pine frame - surely the owner doesn't expect it to come out like a cherry or walnut frame.  And you probably don't have any "extra" wood to test on.  You didn't mention how he wanted it to look - that could help.

I'd go with shellac on the back.  Then, as recommended above, a gel stain.  See what it looks like.  Go from there. Or if you have some transtint in the proper color you could try that in shellac as Rob suggested - I like how that looks on hardwood - never tried it on pine.

Joel

[Ned Trout]

No, there are no expectations...in fact it is just a temporary fix until I can make a decent one. Stain will be oak. I think I will use some 1x and either dig out a knot or bore a small hole, fill it with some epoxy and do a trial run to see what happens. I'm sure the epoxy won't be the same, but at least it'll be a learning experience. Thanks for all the responses.

[MsNomer]

Oak stain on pine is a recipe for disaster.  If you use any stain darker than the hard grain of the pine, you will get the reverse grain appearance that gives pine a bad rap.  Cherry or Antique Cherry can give a nice even effect.

Pine table, table legs were made from Lowes 2x4's. Cherry stain.  Coincidentally, the pine floor also has a cherry stain.

[Joel H.]

Beautiful table Carolyn - bet those legs were fun to make from 2 x 4's.  

Joel