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I used General Finishes water based medium brown dye stain on a red oak grandfather clock. The clock was sanded to 220 grit. I applied the dye/stain with an Earlex spray unit. The color was absorbed uniformly across the piece. Since I am a novice using a spray gun I left some dark blotches on the piece by not moving the spray across the piece in a steady manner. The finish looks uneven with these darker blotches. Is there a way I can I can even out this overspray? Thanks.
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Jim, I don't think there is any binder in that product. If that's correct you should be able to lighten the dark spots by wiping it with a wet paper towel or maybe DNA. Put some dye stain on some scrap, let it dry, and then see if it works. If so, you can do it on your clock. If it doesn't, I think careful sanding will be your only option.
John
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Jim,
Just curious, what size spray tip/needle did you use?
Dave
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07-28-2016, 10:42 AM
(This post was last modified: 07-28-2016, 10:47 AM by JSpill.)
John, thanks for the advice. I wiped the blotchy areas with a wet rag. That was enough to level most areas. For deeper blotchy areas I wiped with a wet rag and followed up with light rubbing with one of those white abrasive pads. Finally I applied a second coat of dye/stain using a foam brush. Brushing finish is much easier for me to control.The piece looks better now. Next is a thin coat of shellac. I plan to finish it off with several coats of GF waterbased satin poly. The shellac and poly will be sprayed.
Dave, I used the 1.5mm needle that came with the unit. It is the needle Earlex recommends for spraying varnish, stains and dyes. Earlex says to use the 2.0mm needle for thicker liquids like milk paint.
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Glad to see it worked out, Jim. The white abrasive pad was a good idea, too.
John
