Staining Question

[Larry Neu]

Hi everyone,
I'm new to the board and rather new to woodwork and I have a stain question. I built my wife a blanket chest and used Minwax Gunstock stain on it and its a bit too red for my liking. I just stained it last night and have not applied the urethane and wondered if I could get some other color stain to kink of knock the red down and add a bit of brown tone to it? Any suggestions for this newbie?

[fredhargis]

I'm going to pass on the stain (others do a lot more staining than I) and offer something you didn't ask about. If that "urethane" is an oil based product, do not put it on the inside of the chest. It will off gas pretty much forever, making whatever is in there smell unpleasant. For the interior use shellac, a waterborne, or even spray NC lacquer (it may take a day or 2 to air out). Shellac or the waterborne would be my choice. Good luck with the stain problem.

[Larry Neu]

I'm going to pass on the stain (others do a lot more staining than I) and offer something you didn't ask about. If that "urethane" is an oil based product, do not put it on the inside of the chest. It will off gas pretty much forever, making whatever is in there smell unpleasant. For the interior use shellac, a waterborne, or even spray NC lacquer (it may take a day or 2 to air out). Shellac or the waterborne would be my choice. Good luck with the stain problem.

Thanks Fredhargis!!

I have lined the inside of the chest with 1/4" cedar (per wife's request). I plan on sealing the outside with water base urethane!!

[giradman]

I'm going to pass on the stain (others do a lot more staining than I) and offer something you didn't ask about. If that "urethane" is an oil based product, do not put it on the inside of the chest. It will off gas pretty much forever, making whatever is in there smell unpleasant. For the interior use shellac, a waterborne, or even spray NC lacquer (it may take a day or 2 to air out). Shellac or the waterborne would be my choice. Good luck with the stain problem.

@ Larry - thumbs up for Fred's comments above! 
 

I've made several chests that store clothes and simply lined w/ aromatic cedar - no finish - when the odor disappears, simply sand the cedar.  If I make drawers, then no finish, plain shellac or water-borne (if some wear protection is needed) are my choices.  Dave

[giradman]

Hi everyone,
I'm new to the board and rather new to woodwork and I have a stain question. I built my wife a blanket chest and used Minwax Gunstock stain on it and its a bit too red for my liking. I just stained it last night and have not applied the urethane and wondered if I could get some other color stain to kink of knock the red down and add a bit of brown tone to it? Any suggestions for this newbie?

Hi Larry - welcome to the forum!
 I'm assuming that you did not 'test' the stain on a scrap from the same project (sanded w/ the same regiment)?  But one of the first rules of finishing.  

Now, I'm not a expert in 'changing' a stain that does not satisfy, but would suggest that you use scraps to see what can be done to alter the appearance - some options include: 1) Mineral spirits (the stain is oil based) may remove some of the pigment (more difficult depending on the time since application); 2) Use a different stain and see what the results may be (again try first on scraps); 3) Apply a sealer coat (like shellac), then try glazing (google for an explanation); and 4) Remove the stain by sanding (tedious and likely will not get all of the stain out unless an aggressive belt sander is used).  Now if the project is made from plywood, the thinness of top veneer is an important consideration.  Hopefully, the finishing experts here will chime in to help - Dave

[Larry Neu]

Hi Larry - welcome to the forum!
 I'm assuming that you did not 'test' the stain on a scrap from the same project (sanded w/ the same regiment)?  But one of the first rules of finishing.  

Now, I'm not a expert in 'changing' a stain that does not satisfy, but would suggest that you use scraps to see what can be done to alter the appearance - some options include: 1) Mineral spirits (the stain is oil based) may remove some of the pigment (more difficult depending on the time since application); 2) Use a different stain and see what the results may be (again try first on scraps); 3) Apply a sealer coat (like shellac), then try glazing (google for an explanation); and 4) Remove the stain by sanding (tedious and likely will not get all of the stain out unless an aggressive belt sander is used).  Now if the project is made from plywood, the thinness of top veneer is an important consideration.  Hopefully, the finishing experts here will chime in to help - Dave

You assumed right Dave..
As I said...new to woodworking but love it!! Getting close to retirement and needing a useful retirement hobby!!
Trust me...from now on I will check it on scraps before the entire project!!

I just stained this last night and have tried the mineral spirits, just seem to lighten the area up but left the redness to it....I'm leaning towards trying a different stain over this and see what happens (scrap first) but I'm not sure what stain/color to get to tonne down the red and add some brown. I contacted Minwax and they suggested sanding it completely down but with the trim on it that will be extremely difficult. Thanks for the response and hope to learn and help here on the forum!!

[giradman]

You assumed right Dave..
As I said...new to woodworking but love it!! Getting close to retirement and needing a useful retirement hobby!!
Trust me...from now on I will check it on scraps before the entire project!!

I just stained this last night and have tried the mineral spirits, just seem to lighten the area up but left the redness to it....I'm leaning towards trying a different stain over this and see what happens (scrap first) but I'm not sure what stain/color to get to tonne down the red and add some brown. I contacted Minwax and they suggested sanding it completely down but with the trim on it that will be extremely difficult. Thanks for the response and hope to learn and help here on the forum!!

Hi again - here is a Minwax Color Transformation Guide that might help in selecting another of their stains to put over the current one - scraps again first.  As indicated before, glazing would be another option - shellac can even be colored, e.g. using TransTint Dyes - again search for some of the terms mentioned; also, check YouTube for guides on wood finishing, staining, and changing colors - some of my favorite book finishing gurus are Jeff Jewitt, Bob Flexner, and Richard Dresdner - good luck.  Dave

P.S. yes, the sanding would be a last choice especially if you used a hardwood veneer plywood.

[jteneyck]

You assumed right Dave..
As I said...new to woodworking but love it!! Getting close to retirement and needing a useful retirement hobby!!
Trust me...from now on I will check it on scraps before the entire project!!

I just stained this last night and have tried the mineral spirits, just seem to lighten the area up but left the redness to it....I'm leaning towards trying a different stain over this and see what happens (scrap first) but I'm not sure what stain/color to get to tonne down the red and add some brown. I contacted Minwax and they suggested sanding it completely down but with the trim on it that will be extremely difficult. Thanks for the response and hope to learn and help here on the forum!!

Good grief, don't sand it.  If I were going to remove it I would use chemical stripper.  But you shouldn't have to do either to shift the color from red to brown.  This may sound odd, but green is what you need, and it probably won't take much.  If you can spray, you are golden.  Just put some Transtint green dye in SealCoat shellac and spray it on.  Do this all on scrap first, of course, to figure out the correct concentration of dye.  Once the color is right, you can apply your topcoats, but do that on the scrap first, too, to make sure the color is OK.  If it's not, adjust the dye accordingly.  

If you can't spray then it's a little harder.  As mentioned, I think I'd try a green tinted glaze over what you now have - on scrap of course - and see if that does it.  

As a last resort, strip it off with chemical stripper and start over.  

John

[Cooler]

There are lots of articles on line showing how to do this.  You won't remove all the stain without sanding but probably enough to change the color.

https://www.google.com/search?q=removing...e&ie=UTF-8

[Willyou]

Your simplest solution is to find another stain color that you add to what you have done. If this doesn't work, then you can resort to stripping and starting over. I would start by preparing some test boards of the same species, sand it to the same grit, and then stain with the same color you have used on the chest and let it dry. Then purchase some colors of Minwax in the small cans (1/2 pint?) (I assume we are talking about oil based stain) and try applying in small swatches over the existing stain (on the test board) to see if you get satisfactory results. With existing dry stain, you will not get a lot of absorption, but you will likely get enough to effect the existing color. Jteneyck is correct. Green is the opposite of red and, if you can find a can of straight green, you might try a sample of that over the Gunstock. I would also suggest trying a sample of a dark yellowish brown like Jacobean or Espresso. Ebony or Classic Grey will also have an effect, but may be too much. If none of this works, I think you are left with stripping. IMO, sanding is not a good option at this point.