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staining question that i need help on

Just got done staining a buttstock and forend in a water based color stain (oil stain wasn't available in the color I wanted) and its been drying now for about 3 days but still feels a tad tacky to the touch???

The can claims its dry in 10-15 min, but I let it dry for 2 hrs in between coats. Did about 5 to 6 Coates to get the consistency I wanted .

Has anyone experienced this before after a staining???

Now I haven't put any polyurethane on it to seal it, but don't know if I want to, or if I have to? I kinda like it the way it is - minus the taciness of course.

Is there something that I'm missing as to why it would still be a bit tacky to the touch.... Its got me confused and don't want to do anymore to it untill its completely dry. Any help would be great guys.
 
I agree make sure to wipe excess stain off try a fine steel wool to take the tackiness off? Has worked for me in the past maybe fine sand paper 600 to 1000 grit?
 
As I did the coats I would let it sit for about 2-3 min as suggested and wiped the remaining stain with another cloth and let it dry and then i did the next coat a few hrs later.
I checked out the video and that is pretty much what i did exept used a t-shirt instead of cheese cloth. Its easier on a flat piece, instead of a multiple sided contour piece.

But it shouldn't take this long to dry should it? Also would possibly a wet sand work as well with a higher grit sand paper to remove some of the tackiness?
Thanks again....
Pics of it to follow of course, but I want to complete it first.
 
is there a lot of humidity where you are doing this? depending on how thick you put it on, could take a while.
 
Not much humidity yet, just cool 60s-70s range here in the Norfolk VA area.
It wasn't thick at all, I applied it thin with a T-shirt to get in all the detail woodwork. Then wiped off.

I've also had a fan on it 24hrs strait for 3 days and still the same feel, every morning I'd flip sides on it to get that side air as well?
 
It may be the brand of stain. There are a lot of differences in different brands of water based stain, and it's still an immature finish compared to more traditional oil based stains, so a lot of experimenting by the manufacturers is still going on.

There's a multitude of application problems with water based finish, long cure time (different than dry time), peeling, sags, foaming, grain raising, to name a few. If it were me, I'd strip it off and start over. Don't know where you bought your water based, or looked for oil stains, but what is available at the local big box stores isn't the best either in color selection or quality. I'd recommend General Finishes. Available online at http://www.woodcraft.com/search2/search ... uery=stain, or other specialty woodworking outlets listed on their website. http://www.generalfinishes.com/where-buy

Shelf life and storage conditions can also cause deterioration of water based stains. Freeze/thaw cycles are deadly to water based stain, and even in optimal storage, shelf life is only 2 to 3years from the time it was manufactured, even if the can was never opened.
 
Thanks for all the great info and the lesson on water staining.
I was after a purple color, and minwax brand was what I found at Lowes that had the color I was after.
May just have to start over with a better quality product if I can't make this work.
 
,,,,,one other tip,,,,,if you do have to do it all over ,,,,,get yourself a small piece of wood to test it on. ;)

good luck and keep us posted.
 
stigmata said:
Thanks for all the great info and the lesson on water staining.
I was after a purple color, and minwax brand was what I found at Lowes that had the color I was after.
May just have to start over with a better quality product if I can't make this work.

You might want to mix your own colors using dye's. Transtint offers a variety of colors that can be mixed to get others. You just mix it with denatured alcohol and test it on the same species of wood as the stock until you get the color tint and depth of color you like. Brush it on let it dry for a while, then put on a regular clear finish such as a wipe on varnish or thinned poly to get the shine. Pretty easy and simple process. I much prefer dyes to stains (oil or water) since the dye doesn't hide the grain, or have the problems associated with stains, and the custom colors I can get by mixing them.

Check it out:
http://www.homesteadfinishingproducts.c ... nsTint.htm

If you decide to go this route, be sure to read the mix and application tips on the above site: PDF download: http://www.homesteadfinishingproducts.c ... 2009ii.pdf
 
stigmata said:
Thanks for all the great info and the lesson on water staining.
I was after a purple color, and minwax brand was what I found at Lowes that had the color I was after.
May just have to start over with a better quality product if I can't make this work.

you say you were after a "purple" color,,,,,,rub a little red wine on a piece of prepared wood....
 
old mossy said:
stigmata said:
Thanks for all the great info and the lesson on water staining.
I was after a purple color, and minwax brand was what I found at Lowes that had the color I was after.
May just have to start over with a better quality product if I can't make this work.

you say you were after a "purple" color,,,,,,rub a little red wine on a piece of prepared wood....

Not a bad idea..... Didn't even think about that.... Hmmmmm. Maybe the next one.

I really wanted Purple Heart wood instead, but don't know who would have the skills to make a buttstock and forend out of it perfectly..... Not to mention I'd probably pay what the gun is worth if not more to have it made too.... But it is some sweet looking wood to use, and it is for the wife after all, in her favorite color.
 
GunnyGene said:
stigmata said:
Thanks for all the great info and the lesson on water staining.
I was after a purple color, and minwax brand was what I found at Lowes that had the color I was after.
May just have to start over with a better quality product if I can't make this work.

You might want to mix your own colors using dye's. Transtint offers a variety of colors that can be mixed to get others. You just mix it with denatured alcohol and test it on the same species of wood as the stock until you get the color tint and depth of color you like. Brush it on let it dry for a while, then put on a regular clear finish such as a wipe on varnish or thinned poly to get the shine. Pretty easy and simple process. I much prefer dyes to stains (oil or water) since the dye doesn't hide the grain, or have the problems associated with stains, and the custom colors I can get by mixing them.

Check it out:
http://www.homesteadfinishingproducts.c ... nsTint.htm

If you decide to go this route, be sure to read the mix and application tips on the above site: PDF download: http://www.homesteadfinishingproducts.c ... 2009ii.pdf


Thx for the info gunny, will look to see if I can use that if i cant make what i have work out in the mean time. :cool:
 
I had the same issue a couple years back.

Used Minwax to re-stain my Mosin M44 stock and it took several tries before I could get it right. Left it sit'n out for an entire week and it was still tacky. Problem was with the wood, not the stain. Thought I had got it all sweated out, but there was still too much cosmoline soaked in. Kept having to strip it back down and re-sand to get under all the oil. Second time I used that stain was on some old surplus AK furniture that was really dry and took the stain on the first try. Good luck and be sure to post up some pics of your project when you're done...
 
Thanks for the info LES,
I did do a chemical strip beforehand and let dry a few days, used an after wash to clean it all and let dry again b4 applying stain. Could that b part of my problem, possibly wasn't as dry as I thought after the chemical strip??

Gonna run some 320 grit to possibly remove the tackiness.... Thinking about wet sanding it instead and let dry and try one more coat..... What do you all think.
 
stigmata,

I don't have any staining advice for you. Staining stocks is not on my list of talents. :cry:

However, please post a photo when you get it done.

I don't think that I've ever seen a purple gun. Of course I hadn't seen any Pink guns until recent years, and I have to say that some of them look very nice. I think all of them were painted though.

I'd really like to see how it turns out.

Good luck with it...

Duane
 
Thanks duane and ill be posting pics once I'm done......

I have no stock staining expierence either, but like most of my projects, I just jump into them asking questions along the way and figure it out as i go. The stain process took a lot longer than I thought it would, but I was in no hurry and took it slow to get the look i was after, since I bought a new stock and forend set to do the work on. Also wanted to keep the original just in case I mess it up.... :lol:
Right now i just continue to let it dry, and the tackiness seems to be going away now. Finally.

The stock is for the wife and its her favorite color, so why not get her something she likes.
Stay tuned for the results.....
 
OK here is a peek at it.....my wife's purple stained wood furniture. :geek:
Putting it together next week, and giving it one more week of dry time before I put it on the gun.
The tackiness is finally going away and almost ready for reassembly.
I will also be posting a new thread about it, showing my progression along the way, start to finish.

 
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