Grit & Stain

[lar]

Following up on Nahil's 'Grit & Glue' Thread (which reminded me of this):

Someone once told me that stain absorbs better when the surface is rough, and not well when polished/smooth.

Any truth to that?

If so, and assuming a smooth surface is desired, do you stain a rough surface, THEN polish/smooth it (and then re-stain)? Or do you just apply a lot of coats of stain to a smooth surface, knowing that each coat doesn't penetrate that deep?

[charles Tauber]

It depends.

Cherry, for example, is well-known for taking stain non-uniformly, giving a blotchy appearance. One remedy is to sand it a little smoother, say 320. Another is to apply a "conditioner" prior to staining that helps the stain absorb more uniformly.

There are water-based stains and oil-based stains. Water-based stains will raise the grain of many woods: oil-based stains will not. One approach to water-based stains is to wet the wood, let it dry, then, having raised the grain, sand it again to smooth the grain, then stain.

So, it depends on what kind of stain you are using and what wood you are staining what is the best approach. Always best to test on scraps.

[tadol]

Depends alot on whether you are using a dye stain, or a pigment stain. Dye stains will absorb unevenly based on grain orientation as well as degree of finish. Pigment stains will lay on the surface, but accumulate in areas with rough grain or uneven sanding. There are pros and cons to each -

[The Watchman]

IME, you may be confusing stain with finish. Stain just adds color. Its the topcoat finish (lacquer, shellac, varnish) that creates the glassy smooth surface. Pigment stain (like Minwax) lies in the grain so wood sanded to a lower grit will hold more pigment (which are tiny particles). Dye stain gets absorbed deeper in the wood. But the topcoat (shellac, lacquer, varnish) lies on top the surface (like paint or fingernail polish) and sticks to it. So you polish the topcoat to get smoothness.

But you use the word rough to describe the wood. Its not really to be rough. You plane and sand it to a grit somewhere 150-220, then stain and topcoat. Sometimes stain will raise the grain due to moisture, so you may need a light sanding to bring that down. But again, the topcoat fills in the surface and thats why you dont need to sand at a higher grit if you're using one.

[runamuck]

Wood sanded with 80 will stain much darker than wood sanded with 320.
That's the simple truth regarding oil stains.