Stain Trouble

[Kris Martinson]

I need help from all you experts out there. I bought a sheet of Baltic Birch ply from my local WoodCraft store (expensive!), and I cut a nice wedding portrait for my niece. All went well, but when I stained it,  it took on the stain very unevenly (is that a new word?). I hate to throw the sheet away, but I'm sure not going to use it again with this result. The cutting took me several hours, then I ruined it in less than five minutes with the stain. So I have some questions for you:

1. Can this be fixed?

2. Where do you get good quality plywood for your projects?

3. This sheet has a very rough surface. I had to sand it A LOT. Is there any possible use for this sheet, other than (s)crap?

 

[Kris Martinson]

P.S.  This plywood really ate up my saw blades fast!

[DWSUDEKUM]

Kris there is a product called pre-stain made by minwax that helps even out staining.  Short of a good bit of sanding the only way I know of to fix a staining problem is to make it darker.

 

DW

[LarryEA]

Best I can suggest besides what DW said is to do a search.

 fix blotchy wood stain - AOL Search Results

Try your own search words.

[oldhudson]

I generally seal wood, before applying stain, by adding a thin coat of shellac. Sealing the wood helps a great deal in keeping the stain(s) even. If the end product with be light in color I use blond shellac and if it's to be dark I opt for the garnet.

 

What DW said the only fix, given that you are working with pw is to overstain with dark colors, although you might be able to paint? If it were solid wood you could plane off a wee bit and start over.

 

It's always difficult to tell from pics but is it possible that you could have gotten some silicone on the stock or something like WD 40?

 

I make it a rule to go through my finishing steps with cut off stock before working on the final piece. You never know what's going to happen.

 

Finally, given that's it is pw, can you turn the project over?

 

Nice cut though, you deserve some 'atta boys'.

[Scrolling Steve]

Kris, sorry to hear this!....Sounds like some good advice your getting.....I buy , and have bought a lot of 1/4 Baltic birch from Woodcraft and never experienced this problem!...good luck and hope you can save it!

[mgmine]

Before giving up on it try some wood bleach. You should be able to get it at the Woodcraft store.

[amazingkevin]

Possiably glue residue still on the wood from the pattern removal?

[heppnerguy]

From my understanding, a sealer on the plywood is the answer to the blochy problem. Although I do not so that myself I know I am taking a chance when I do not. Once in awhile,I too have run into this problem. I know better but I am stubborn and take unnecessary risks. Don't be a fool like me. Do what you know it right

 

Dick

heppnerguy

[WayneMahler]

I use a sealer beofre staining anything with BB Ply. Same applies to pine and poplar. The stuff I have is made by Minwax and works well for my needs. As for saving the piece, I don't kow of anything that will help with that other then sanding it down. Hard to do with BB Ply and not have the layers show.

[Savannah Scroller]

Staining is Always a problem for me. I Always test on a scrape piece as you cannot tell the color from the can of stain. An I like to use a Clean WHITE! cotton cloth to apply stain. It helps me to control the spread of the stain.

[kywoodmaster]

Minwax sanding sealer. It helps close the poors and makes the stain take evenly. I don use ply often but I always use a coat of Minxax natural stain then sanding sealer before the color that I want. Hope this helps. I also think that some deluted bleack or citric acic may salvage the project. 

[ike]

i HAVE NEVER HAD THIS PROBLEM WITH PLYWOOD AS LONG AS i DON'T BUY THE CHEEPEST SMOOTH PLYWOOD THAT IS AVABLE, tHE QUALITY OF THE PLYWOOD DOES MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE IN THE STAINING PROCESS.

[courdorygirl]

I don't stain, and you've already received great advice on that front so I'll answer the other question. if you're willing to wait and pay shipping, my favorite websites is woodworkerssource.com. If I'm in a pinch and need more wood yesterday, I go to Michael's craft wood section. Pretreated for sawing already (vs Lowe's or HD raw plywood) and cheaper than Woodcraft. Hope that helps!