Stain Finish for Soft Woods

¶ Stain Finish: New Interior Soft Woods, Yellow Pine, White Pine, Poplar wood and Cypress.

¶ Operation 1: Clean up the surface with duster brush and putty knife. Sandpaper to remove dirt and rough places. Remove grease, oil, etc,, because stain cannot penetrate such substances and leaves a light spot in the finish if not removed.

¶ Operation 2: Oil Coat. Brush on a coat composed of % linseed oil and %, turpentine to even up the suction and fill the soft, open-grain spots in the wood. This enables you to gain a more uniform coloring of the wood with the stain coat. Let the oil coat dry over night. It should be brushed on and any excess of oil not absorbed should be wiped off. with a cloth after half an hour. A coat of thin shellac is preferred by some finishers for this purpose of sealing up the wood porous places and sappy, pitchy streaks. The shellac coat also enables you to gain a more even coloring of the wood.

¶ Operation 3: Stain. Any oil stain or spirit stain may now be brushed on, and wiped off if needed to remove excess of stain, or to make the color lighter. Water stain may be used on these woods over a shellac first coat as indicated.

¶ Operation 4: Putty. Holes, bruises and cracks should be filled with putty as soon as the stain has set. No need to wait until the stain is dry. Mix the putty from white lead in oil, dry whiting and a few drops of japan drier. Add dry tinting colors to make it match the wood and be a little darker, if anything, because the wood will get darker with age. Allow the putty and stain at least 12 hours to dry. Then very lightly sand the surface with No. 00 paper and clean off any putty marks, dust, etc., using a duster and a damp chamois skin.

¶ Operation 5: Varnish. Brush on two coats of first class interior varnish, thinning the first coat only with about 25% of pure turpentine. Allow the first coat to dry hard and then rub it very lightly with No. 00 sandpaper to remove the gloss and dirt nibs. Clean up well and apply the second coat of varnish freely, but brush out enough to avoid runs, sags and wrinkles. Go over the coat with an empty brush after laying it off and that will pick up any excess of varnish which you may have put on the surface.

¶ Operation 6: Rub dull. If a flat, dull lustre is wanted the second coat can be rubbed a little and lightly with FP pumice stone and oil or water on a felt pad. Clean up well after the rubbing with benzine and polish with a dry cloth. Two coats of varnish will not stand hard or close rubbing without cutting through and spoiling the finish. Three coats at least are needed. A fiat drying varnish may be used to save the rubbing, but select a flat varnish which contains no wax. Wax makes a poor foundation for future finishing.

Next Page: Refinishing Old Wood Trim.