Can i sand stained wood

Stain can also protect against the deteriorating effects of sunlight and strength the wood a bit more against impact and damage. There are three major types of wood stains: resin, alkyd, and oil.

There are also water-based stains available. When applied, the stain acts as a binder, securing the wood against humidity, rot, and other types of decay. Sand thoroughly before you apply the first coat of stain. If you do not sand well, and you simply do a rough job of it, you will have exposed, open cells in the grain that soak in too much stain and create a much greater, darker contrast than you are probably looking for.

Sand a few times, with progressively finer grit sandpaper. Some people like to begin with grit, then move to grit, and end with a round of grit. Try aluminum oxide sandpaper if you have a large surface to work over.

Aluminum oxide sandpaper will self-sharpen as you use it. Keep in mind that you will probably have to do a few coats of stain to provide the level of protection you want for your project. The type of wood you are using for the project has an effect on how well the stain is accepted. They can become splotchy and discolored when you try to stain them. To counteract this effect, try using a pre-stain or conditioner on the wood before you stain it.

Oak, ash, and chestnut handle stain well , but wood such as maple, poplar, and birch do not handle stain very well at all. You should definitely use pre-stain or wood conditioning products for these types of lumber. As far as wood conditioners go, many experts and DIYers swear by Minwax. Minwax tends to be the go-to name in pre-stains and pre-treatment, so if you are not sure where to begin, we would suggest starting out with a good Minwax wood conditioner, followed by a high-quality stain.

Pine is another species of tree whose natural and open grain may be more susceptible to a rough, unattractive look when you try to stain it. If you are planning to use white pine, limit yourself to light stains only. Another pro tip is to test your stain product on samples of the wood you are using, to see how it reacts.

You can also practice using scrap lumber, so you get a feel for the process and products that seem to work best for you and yield the final result you want for the piece you are creating.

When you are staining, make sure you keep a wet edge and stain the entire project in one session without stopping if at all possible. Otherwise, you end up with darker overlapping edges where you ended and then picked up again.

Sometimes, depending on the wood you are using or the type of stain you have purchased, you will find that the water component of the stain has lifted the grain again, making it more prominent and rendering the top surface of the wood rougher than you would like.

To counteract this, you can sand a bit. I appreciate any and all responses! When a pine tree is growing, in the spring time it creates wood cells, mostly vertical in orientation, that are fairly wide open. As summer comes, the tree makes dense, non-open cells. However, the summerwood cells absorb very little stain, so light sanding will expose the original color light color , unstained summerwood cells and the dark colored, stained spring wood cells.

The transition from spring wood to summer wood is often quite abrupt. So, the white lines you see are unstained summerwood cells. I am not the best finishing expert on the best finish for this material, but it would seem that using a stain within a film forming top coat like polyurethane should be considered rather than a penetrating stain and clear top coat.

Runs or drips, streaks and brushmarks, none of these are best dealt with by sanding between coats. These are broadly speaking all avoidable issues and one's application process needs to looked at if these occur regularly, but all of them are best deal with in a single step at the end of finishing rather than dealing with them at each stage of the process.

Pre raising was a standard procedure for furniture when I was in trade school. We would rub the entire surface with a damp cloth to raise any grain tips, let dry, then sand with up to sandpaper. We then stained, first coat thinned, varnish, or used a polyurethane primer, sanded with open coat silica carbide , then finish coats, sometimes up to 7 coats , usually light sanded between.

Sign up to join this community. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top. Stack Overflow for Teams — Collaborate and share knowledge with a private group. Create a free Team What is Teams? Learn more. Is it bad to sand extra-fine before applying Poly? Ask Question. Asked 6 years ago. Active 6 years ago. Viewed 15k times. Improve this question. It may be bad to sand too finely before applying stain, however. Ssanding past about grit starts filling the pores in the wood and can reduce how much the stain soaks in.

That might actually be useful in some cases, but it usually isn't what you want. Add a comment.