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Water-based stains
By Steve Maxwell
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When I was growing up in the 1970s, you could buy winter gear for kids in any colour you wanted as long as it was dark brown or dark blue. It was sensible, traditional and predictable, in a Soviet-block sort of way. But would anyone really go back to that now? Isn’t a playground full of brightly coloured children so much more appealing? I think it’s the same with the trend towards non-traditional hues of wood stain that I’m seeing, and we’ll probably get more of it in the next few years. And if colour alone wasn’t reason enough to sit up and take notice, new formulations are also safer and easier to use than anything that’s been available before.
Traditional wood finishing has always involved a conflict between enhancing wood on the one hand, and killing brain cells on the other. And until recently, the quest for beauty usually won out, even with lots of ventilation. Water-based urethanes are an answer to this dilemma, and they’ve come a long way in reducing the problem of solvent exposure in the home and workshop. But it’s only within the last several years that a similar advantage has been readily available in the realm of liquid wood stains. A line of custom-tintable, water-based stains from Minwax is a case in point, and I’m impressed enough that I’d like to tell you about them.
Until now lack of variety has been the problem with traditional wood stains. They’ve only been available in a relatively small array of factory-mixed colours because there’s only so much retail shelf space that can be reserved for cans of stain. And of those limited colours, all were some shade of brown. The Minwax line of water-based stains expands the palette to a total of 66 different colours, including some rich blues, reds and greens.
Before you dismiss the idea of a blue entertainment centre or a red dresser, I’d like to introduce you to a guy named George Frank. He goes down in history as one of the most talented wood finishers of the 20th century, and discovered the value of brightly coloured wood more than 40 years ago. In his enduring book “Wood Finishing With George Frank”, the author shows the stunning effects that are possible when rich, rainbow colours are combined with visible wood grain. This isn’t paint we’re talking about here, but a stain that lets the natural variations of wood grain show through the colour. Obviously, Minwax didn’t invent this approach, but they have made it easily accessible to many people.
Using the product involves a three-part process: application of a pre-stain sealer; application of the stain; and protection of the surface under several coats of water-based urethane. The pre-stain sealer is important, as the instructions insist. I prepared matching colour samples, one with the sealer and one without, and found a much richer, crisper result on the sealed surface. The wood grain looked muddy on the non-sealed sample.
Water-based urethane is the best way to seal wood coloured with water-based stain. It bonds better to the surface and doesn’t impart the yellowish hue common with oil-based urethanes. All this is good news, except for the fact that water-based urethanes can be challenging to apply well. They usually dry very quickly, and this means that brush marks and air bubbles can become permanent features of the final finish. Later this month I’ll tell you how to avoid this problem using a common workshop sander to buff wood finishes to perfection.
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Water-based stains
By Steve Maxwell
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|
|
When I was growing up in the 1970s, you could buy winter gear for kids in any colour you wanted as long as it was dark brown or dark blue. It was sensible, traditional and predictable, in a Soviet-block sort of way. But would anyone really go back to that now? Isn’t a playground full of brightly coloured children so much more appealing? I think it’s the same with the trend towards non-traditional hues of wood stain that I’m seeing, and we’ll probably get more of it in the next few years. And if colour alone wasn’t reason enough to sit up and take notice, new formulations are also safer and easier to use than anything that’s been available before.
Traditional wood finishing has always involved a conflict between enhancing wood on the one hand, and killing brain cells on the other. And until recently, the quest for beauty usually won out, even with lots of ventilation. Water-based urethanes are an answer to this dilemma, and they’ve come a long way in reducing the problem of solvent exposure in the home and workshop. But it’s only within the last several years that a similar advantage has been readily available in the realm of liquid wood stains. A line of custom-tintable, water-based stains from Minwax is a case in point, and I’m impressed enough that I’d like to tell you about them.
Until now lack of variety has been the problem with traditional wood stains. They’ve only been available in a relatively small array of factory-mixed colours because there’s only so much retail shelf space that can be reserved for cans of stain. And of those limited colours, all were some shade of brown. The Minwax line of water-based stains expands the palette to a total of 66 different colours, including some rich blues, reds and greens.
Before you dismiss the idea of a blue entertainment centre or a red dresser, I’d like to introduce you to a guy named George Frank. He goes down in history as one of the most talented wood finishers of the 20th century, and discovered the value of brightly coloured wood more than 40 years ago. In his enduring book “Wood Finishing With George Frank”, the author shows the stunning effects that are possible when rich, rainbow colours are combined with visible wood grain. This isn’t paint we’re talking about here, but a stain that lets the natural variations of wood grain show through the colour. Obviously, Minwax didn’t invent this approach, but they have made it easily accessible to many people.
Using the product involves a three-part process: application of a pre-stain sealer; application of the stain; and protection of the surface under several coats of water-based urethane. The pre-stain sealer is important, as the instructions insist. I prepared matching colour samples, one with the sealer and one without, and found a much richer, crisper result on the sealed surface. The wood grain looked muddy on the non-sealed sample.
Water-based urethane is the best way to seal wood coloured with water-based stain. It bonds better to the surface and doesn’t impart the yellowish hue common with oil-based urethanes. All this is good news, except for the fact that water-based urethanes can be challenging to apply well. They usually dry very quickly, and this means that brush marks and air bubbles can become permanent features of the final finish. Later this month I’ll tell you how to avoid this problem using a common workshop sander to buff wood finishes to perfection.
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