Sanding and staining questions (1 Viewer)

[Jake14mw]

Hi all,

I have been on a quest to make slide-in cupholders. I have cut the oak pieces. Used a palm sander with coarse sandpaper to smooth my jigsaw cuts and the edges. Do I now need to sand it with fine paper? I'm using just standard black Minwax stain, and poly. Do I have clean the wood with anything after sanding? Any suggestions for applying the stain and polyurethane? Any suggestions at all would be appreciated! Thanks.

 

[markleteenie]

What grit is coarse? 60 grit? I do generally sand it to a 100+ grit, I wipe it down with mineral spirits to remove the dust and also use pre stain before staining.

 

[Quicksilver-75]

^yes. Use a rag to apply the stain and wipe even. Use a sponge brush for the finish. Not too heavy. Very slight first coat, too.
Use some #0000 steel wool between coats or a very good sand paper like 1000grit^.
dont rush the finish. It’s hard but let it dry completely. It’s easier to fix things after it’s dry anyways.

 

[Jake14mw]

Thanks guys. I did some googling. Do you guys think wood conditioner is recommended before staining the oak? Also, I found this guy that really recommends spray lacquer. Looks great as it requires no sanding between coats, no brush marks and dries extremely quckly. Opinions?

 

[Seeking Alpha Social Club]

^yes. Use a rag to apply the stain and wipe even. Use a sponge brush for the finish. Not too heavy. Very slight first coat, too.
Use some #0000 steel wool between coats or a very good sand paper like 1000grit^.
dont rush the finish. It’s hard but let it dry completely. It’s easier to fix things after it’s dry anyways.

++1 this ^^^ I usually sand down to a final 400 or 600 grit on the raw wood, stain and coat, then use #0000 steel wool between coats (after letting it dry thoroughly). I always clean with mineral spirits between coats.

 

[Seeking Alpha Social Club]

Thanks guys. I did some googling. Do you guys think wood conditioner is recommended before staining the oak? Also, I found this guy that really recommends spray lacquer. Looks great as it requires no sanding between coats, no brush marks and dries extremely quckly. Opinions?

I will tell you, I recently started spraying versus brushing, and the finish is AMAZING!! But it takes a bit of practice to get it right. But yes, spray finish is pretty damn amazing. Although, if you use a clear or satin lacquer finish with a brush, it blends perfectly and doesn't leave brush strokes.

Edit: IMHO, the clean up on the spray gun wouldn't be worth it for cup holders. I HATE CLEANING MY SPRAY GUN!!

Sorry, I didn't watch the video first. He's using a spray can. Not sure about that...haven't used a spray can with lacquer.

 

[Quicksilver-75]

Oh. And do not use the canned spray finish. Those cans aren’t a good enough quality to give you a great finish. You’ll end up with an orange peel texture to your finish that is impossible to polish out. If your new to the hobby I’d say this: start, if you can, with satin or a semi-gloss finish. A high gloss finish is very hard to achieve. If you have a dust free room and time to do some practice runs, giver a go. But you’ll find the flatter the look, the more imperfections are hidden.
And DO NOT use Polyshades or any two in one. Like shampoo and conditioner, they’re a terrible idea.

 

[Rebelwork]

Sand to 150 grit. Look for scratches or curly-Q's. Don't see any proceed. ..

 

[Colquhoun]

With oak, I recommend the wood conditioner (Minwax has one called Pre-Stain)before staining.

With porous woods, it prevents blotchy areas. Oak has those dark spots of side grain that will soak up much more of the pigmented stain than the smooth spots, and it will look too dark. Wiping on the conditioner makes the really porous sections soak up at a slower rate...so you get a more even color. If you’re REALLY adventurous, smearing a wood filler into the darker oak grains, letting it dry, then sanding that smooth will make for an amazing finish, but is not a requirement.

Also with oak, let the stain soak in for 10-15 minutes, but wipe off excess with a soft, absorbent cloth. It will take FOREVER to dry and will be sticky for days if you don’t. Once it’s dry, if it looks too light you can repeat the stain to darken...then let it dry completely again.

I see the satin you’re using says dries in 3 hours. Bulls&!?t. Let it dry at least overnight, and if any part still feels sticky, wait longer. It shouldn’t feel damp or sticky, but bone dry. Sand again lightly (150 or 220) before doing the poly.

For polyurethane, I like oil based, as it dries a bit slower and can smooth out as it dries. The minwax fast drying oil poly is great...satin or semi-gloss. You can apply with a foam brush and toss when done. Apply at least 3 coats, lightly sanding with 220 grit between.

Good luck!

 

[Jake14mw]

Thanks very much for all of the great advice. I will pick up a small can of the wood conditioner. I have the 150 grit sandpaper. I will give that a run over everything this morning. Yeah, quicksilver, I used that polyshades for the edge banding, and I don't like it at all, that's why I went a different way for the rest.

I think I'm going to try the spray lacquer, oil based to match the oil stain. The time savings is really worth it to me, I have 9 different cupholders to do. I will get the semi-gloss as you guys recommend. This one seems to get good reviews:
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Minwax-Sem...uer-Actual-Net-Contents-12-25-fl-oz/999913799

For the spraying, to hold the pieces just drive some nails through scrap wood to hold them up as a stand? Any other advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks guys.

 

[Jake14mw]

So, I used gorilla glue to hold the magnets in. Didn't know that stuff expands when drying. Halfway through, I realized I was going to have to use clamps to hold them in.

I assume I have to remove the excess glue that got on the wood before staining. Can I use some paint thinner with a rag? Or just sand? Sanding will be tricky because these special magnets are very soft and fragile, so I can't just go over the whole surface.

Thanks for your suggestions.

 

[Rebelwork]

You don't really need conditioner with oak...only time you need conditioner is with maybe maple or birch....

 

[Jake14mw]

You don't really need conditioner with oak...only time you need conditioner is with maybe maple or birch....

Thanks, any advice on the glue?

 

[Rebelwork]

Chisel and some elbow grease...

Are you the one I run into occasionally on Fultilt?

 

[Jake14mw]

Chisel and some elbow grease...

Are you the one I run into occasionally on Fultilt?

Thanks. No, never been on Fultilt.

 

[Irish]

I wouldn't bother with conditioner on oak, that's meant for softer woods. I finish the bare wood with a fine grit like 150, check for scratches/swirls. Apply stain with a rag, let sit for a few minutes then wipe any excess. Key to hand applied poly IMHO are tack clothes, need to have a clean surface after sanding coats, no dust. I use a foam brush for poly, allow to dry, light sand, tack cloth then repeat. Higher grit as you progress 150-250-400. Good luck!

The can sprays are OK, especially for odd shaped projects, but you'll spend 4x as much. I've found you still need to sand between coats, just not as much.

 

[EasyE]

Some goof off maybe on the glue.