[jaymatic21]

After a long journey (a week lol) I have finally settled on a desk combo. My apartment is has an Asian modern feel and in my bedroom I'm doing a black brown/birch veneer combo with metal accents. I went with VIKA AMON table top in birch veneer, 2 VIKA CURRY legs in silver, and on VIKA FURUSUND table leg w/ storage (saw it at ikea in a kids room, I just spun it asian)

My plan is to stain the storage leg with the black stain ikea sells, I read that pine is a soft wood and will stains unevenly. I know nothing about staining but I was thinkng about sanding it, water wipe wash, hitting it with a pretreater so it stains evenly, then staining with that ikea stain. Keep applying coats until its dark enough. Is that a good plan? Also would I wipe on the stain then leave it on? Or wipe it right off? Any and all input is great, thanks in advance.

Here is a pic of what te desk will look like hopefully (photoshoped)

[fisheggs]

I've been staining pine a bunch this summer with the "antique stain" Ikea color and haven't had any blotchiness problems. Of course, you can see the knots and details in the wood, but that is why you're using stain anyway, right? If you want a completely even look, you'd probably be painting.


The key step would be to make sure that the piece is sanded evenly - this is probably the main place where you could run into blotchy issues.

For application, I've had the best luck with applying using a rag where I don't leave any excess. I just have been rubbing it on until the color looks even and then letting it dry completely before the next coat. For the "antique stain" color, about 4 coats has been good. Also, the grain comes up a bit during application, so don't expect it to be quite as smooth as when you finish sanding.

[jaymatic21]

thanks 4 the info yes I want the grain to show I wanna make it look as close to the black brown finish they have.

I really didn't want to mess with all the crazy pre work, im gonna sand and stain that it. What kind of sealer do you us, I know you gotta put something on the wood after you stain it right?

[fisheggs]

I ended up putting on a single coat of satin poly which matches the kitchen door finish pretty well. I tested a bunch of different combinations, including wood conditioners, water wiping, etc., on some spare pine scraps before committing to the final project. One thing that works well for me is wiping the wood with some water and then letting it dry before the final sanding.

[jaymatic21]

Thanks 4 ur help!

I'm gonna sand, water wash, and rug rub on the stain around 4 coats or so, then finish with a stain poly.

I plan to do this Saturday, will take pictures and post befores and afters

THANKS!!!!!!

[fisheggs]

Great! I'd love to see pics of the process, since I haven't dealt with the darker stain colors. It'd be great to know how many coats you end up using.

[jaymatic21]

So this weekend I tryed to get my desk legs stained and polyed but my time management was off. Plus the 311 concern saturday night slowed me down. I sanded water washed and applied 3 coats of stain. Unforcanatly my girl broke her cam and I used my cell phone and the quialty is poor, will try to take finished high res pics.

These pics are sanded and waterwashed with one coat of stain

[jaymatic21]

these pics are after 3 coats of stain forgot to take pics after 2, I use an odd technic but it made t go alot faster. I applied with a sock and poured stain on the wood then rubbed it in.

Sorry again pic sux

[fisheggs]

Those look really good! Are you going to any sort of a poly on top?

I use the sock technique, too...it helps to have the rag be really taut when you're rubbing, and a sock on the hand is easy to manipulate that way.

[jaymatic21]

Thanks.....I dont remember what kind of poly i brought but def poly top coat, trying to finish it this week if not I will finish on friday. Gonna use a sponge brush for the poly I hate brush lines.

Side note Dark Knight in IMAX tonight it gonna be sick