Staining or finishing an antique wood piece? Bumped for advice.

I used this stuff to make stain new counter tops that I built for my kitchen Minwax 70012 1 Quart Wood Finish Interior Wood Stain

It's worked well for me.

Use Minwax Helmsman SPAR varnish. Your furniture will survive the next flood.

LINK

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I hate when people paint furniture, especially antiques... But sometimes if the mixture of wood is too diverse, it would look better painted. Imo.

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Yep. Not painting.

I would have never guessed the differences in the woods before.

We wanted it to be a little lighter than it is going to need to be. But I understand it will need to be slightly darker than the darkest piece to look right.

If you want the best get OLD MASTERS GEL.

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And why not a gel stain? I am looking at min wax. It sounds like paint in the can and not a true gel like some products. If left on per the instruction? It should penetrate.

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Direct quote from wood magazine, ... "Applying a gel stain to wood is like spreading peanut butter onto bread. The peanut butter sticks, but it doesn't penetrate the porous surface of the bread. ... And, because gel stains don't penetrate as well as thin-bodied stains, they don't bring out the "depth" of the wood grain as well as thin-bodied stains."

Gel stains are fine for crap wood like pine b/c pine stains blotchy and uneven. Gel stain is like a paint, so it wont be blotchy, but it does not penetrate the wood(I don't care what Minwax's can says), it just lays on top. It will cover up the wood grain, which is what gives old wood furniture its character. See if you have a Rockler hardware or something similar and talk with experienced stainers/woodworkers and not Joe Blow at Home Depot who probably knows less than you.

Just to give you an idea

I re-stained my shutters a while back using a penetrating/wiping stain from Old Masters (American Walnut) and 2 coats of sealant.

I figured since the sun beats on them all day, I would use the penetrating stain vs. the gel stain so they didnt peel over time, only fade.

I will more than likely have to do them again in a few years.

Before:



Sanded:



After:



The penetrating stain does make the pine a little splotchy, so I would just apply a small amount (2-3" diameter circle) then wipe that and spread it as much as i could, adding until I got the desired color.

Make sure you keep your stain mixed. I did not do that and I got to the bottom of the can, stained one shutter and it was damn near black. Sanded what I could and just roughed in areas to fix it.

The stain I used was pure liquid.

I applied it with a foam brush. It didnt take much at all. By the time I got it down, I would just slap a little on and wipe the hell out of it in a large circle with an old t-shirt.

Attempting to post pic



#2

Woohoo. This is a before shot of a caniten door and changes in wood.

Back of same cabinet door.

Left red mahogany and right Brazilian rosewood gel stain.