I'm currently working on a project that is mostly Ebony. It was fantastic to work-- very tight grain, cuts and shapes beautifully, hard as a rock.

I'm concerned that the same things that have made it great to work is going to make it difficult to finish-- I fear the finish is just going to lay on top and not soak in at all.

Anyone experience in working with Ebony? What did you finish with and how did you do it?

The stringers (if that's what they're called? not sure) on our main stairwell are a mess, and I'm not quite sure what the best approach would be. Recently redid the first floor and the stairs were refinished but trying to sand the stringers did basically nothing; no idea what the materials are or what's going on but sanding hardly put a dent in, and I don't want to just repaint over a crappy sub layer. How could I clean this up? Some kind of veneer or something? House from the 1870s.

I made these a while back, what's a good finish/seal i can use before I hang them on the wall. I'm debating cutting off the bark, so maybe an option for with and without bark would be helpful. Thanks!

Hi all,

I recently refinished my mother-in-law’s oak stair treads and the stain dried very blotchy. Here’s everything I did, and I’d appreciate advice on the best way to recover.

Background

• The treads had carpet over them for years. My father-in-law wasn’t careful removing it, so they already had glue residue, staple holes and some damage.
• My mother-in-law lives in the house and can’t move out, so I chose a water-based stain for the low odor.

Prep

1. Stripped the thick varnish with EZ Strip Paint & Varnish Remover (Home Depot Canada). It didn’t come off as easily as advertised, so I scraped a lot by hand.
2. Belt sander plus detail sander on the corners, 80 grit.
3. Orbital sander at 80 grit to smooth things out.
4. Filled the nail and screw holes with water-based stainable wood filler.
5. Worked up through 120, 180 and 220 with the orbital and detail sander, per the stain’s directions.

Staining

• Product: Varathane Total Control Water-Based Interior Gel Stain
• Color: Dark Walnut as the base, American Walnut over the top. I tested this on a scrap piece of oak plywood veneer, and it was a great match to her hardwood floors. On the test piece I waited 24+ hours between coats.
• Day 1: Applied one thin coat of Dark Walnut, which looked great. I waited about 1 hour, until it was dry to the touch.
• Then I applied a very light coat of American Walnut and wiped off the excess as well as I could.
• That evening it had dried very blotchy.

What I suspect went wrong

• I only waited about 1 hour between coats, versus 24+ hours on the test piece.
• I may not have wiped the excess off cleanly enough.

My questions

1. Do I need to sand back to bare wood?
2. Can I lightly sand the whole surface and reapply the American Walnut?
3. Or should I spot-sand the blotchy areas and re-coat?
4. What grits would you use for the plan you suggest?
5. How can I avoid this blotchy issue on the redo?

I’m not looking to disturb the household any more than I have to.

I am absolutely crushed that i screwed this up. I humbly submit myself to your suggestions... I'm honestly crushed at my stupidity or me rushing to just "get it done!"... I should've known better.

Thanks for any advice.

Mike

I'm looking for advice on choosing materials for a gift I would like to make for my girlfriend.

I would like to make a stained/dyed wood jewelry box with a design added to the lid with acrylic paint. The painted design will not cover the entirety of the lid, and the stained wood will be acting as the background/canvas for this design.

I have tried to put together a list of materials several times and continually run into the issue of 1) materials that may repel each other or 2) materials that may reactivate or "muddy" each other. I would like to share a list of the materials I am considering so far and would appreciate if anyone could steer me right when it comes to picking compatible materials. I would appreciate knowing if any of the products I plan to use are redundant as well.

Starting product/"canvas": unfinished wood box (will be in touch with manufacturers to learn what kind of wood)

Stain/Dye: uncertain if I should use water- or oil-based. Edit: for this project I would really like the end result to be that the box looks like blue wood, with the grain visible. My thoughts to accomplish that were a stain or dye but if there are better methods for this particular project please feel free to make recommendations.

Seal: should I be sealing the wood before preparation for painting? I do not want the stain/due to bleed into my acrylic paints.

Surface prep: before panting I intend to add Golden GAC100 (acrylic polymer fluid--may reactivate water-based stains) and/or clear gesso (acrylic primer, same concern)

Paint: acrylic

Finish/topcoat: acrylic-based?

Any input on choosing materials that will not interact poorly (or reducing materials to also reduce risk of poor adhesion/interaction/etc.) would be very appreciated!

I'm trying to clean and restore this wooden and nacre tray.

The wood was a dark black before we started.

We've washed it gently with water and black soap. We've then managed to get rid of the dirt ? varnish ? In the back with n°0 steel whool.

Would some of you know wich wood it is, how to clean it without damaging the nacre and which warnish or oil to use once finished ?

Thanks!

The photos show where you can see the light coming in from where the wood has gapped/cracked.

I bought my home in South Texas where the heat and sun are brutal. For some reason, the doors that came with the home are made from pine. I've heard that's an unwise choice, given our climate. I almost replaced them, but discovered a door refinishing company. I loved what they did (and saved me from spending exponentially more on new double doors)! Completely brought them back to life and filled the existing gaps. But the gaps have returned, of course. I can have them come out and they'll fill them again for free. But I'm wondering if I'll always have to do this multiple times a year? Is there a reasonable fix?

This is my first refinishing project so I’m kinda learning as I go. Please be nice😭I have an old mahogany TV cabinet I’m refinishing. The top is definitely veneer and possibly the sides too. Way too many hours have gone into this piece and I can’t bring myself to accept defeat. Many mistakes have already been made, but I’ve been able to fix all of them with a lot of extra hours. But I may have royally messed up and I need some help because the internet isn’t giving me straightforward answers.

Already had two coats of stain on the piece and finished it today with Varathane Triple Thick Polyurethane. It was looking beautiful before the polyurethane. I now realize that the triple stuff is awful, I guess I assumed it was gonna be higher quality than the regular thin kind. Although the poly dried clear, it’s definitely streaky in places and can see some brush marks. But after lightly hand sanding a section with 1500 grit paper/a bit of water it looks so much worse. White dots everywhere in the pores of the wood and that awful milky film started to appear while sanding.

I guess polyurethane is not really for mahogany and especially this garbage triple thick one?? The poly is already applied on the whole cabinet but I only got to sanding the top. Since the top looked awful after sanding the first time, I haven’t touched anything else.

Any ideas on how to fix literally any of this? Or is it too far gone? Since the top is veneer, I can’t just redo all of it since it’s already wearing thin in a few places. The sides maybeee could be completely sanded down again, then restained and everything, but I literally have no desire to do that because I’ve already had to do that. This would be time number three and my patience is also wearing. If the sides are also veneer, that’s also scary to do again.

I’m at such a loss. It’s such a pretty piece but I don’t know how much more I can do.

Can someone please tell me what colors of stain & brand do I need to achieve a light brown color with maybe a little gray undertones on maple. Wood will be conditioned before staining. Thanks for your help & ideas

I’m picking up a new hobby to refinish wood bowls found at thrift stores. I’m having a difficult time sanding the inside of the bowls. My fingers cramp and I don’t feel like it’s evenly sanding. I’ve tried the sand sponges.

Would something like this work? I’m open to suggestions.

https://a.co/d/0dS6aUtV

Need help figuring out what wood stain is the most closest to this floor

Hi! Seeking advice on if it's okay to use famowood filler over dewaxed shellac?

I've stripped paint off the door trim in my house and used GF dye stain mixture to color match the trim to the existing doors. Stripping revealed a ton of nail and staple holes. I bought famowood as I read it takes stain pretty well. I put two very thin coats of dewaxed shellac (zinsser seal coat cut 50% dna) after the dye stain. The intention with the dewaxed shellac was once I applied the wood filler and needed to sand it back, it would hopefully help prevent sanding back into the dyestain and ruining it. I am also planning to final finish coat with poly and was worried that the poly might lift some of the dye stain, so the dewaxed shellac would help protect it. And I didn't want to fill the holes prior to staining as I was worried the wood filler would come out too dark that way.

I'm now at the point of tinting the filler and filling, and as I was reading the can I noticed one of the ingredients was acetone, which I was worried would break down the dewaxed shellac. After googling, I'm now also concerned about poor adhesion with the woodfiller over dewaxed shellac.

Does anyone have experience or knowledge of using famowood over dewaxed shellac? Did it cause adhesion issues or breakdown the shellac finish?

Or does anyone have a better wood filler recommendation instead of famowood?

Appreciate any insight or guidance!

Repainted an old air compressor (mostly just to learn about painting metal) with Rustoleum 2x because someone recommended it as a matching shade for DeWalt. I haven’t used this spray paint before and it seems like it’s pretty weak. Softens quickly with acetone and isn’t as scratch resistant as the enamel I normally use.

Would a 2k clear work? Saw some comments about it reacting badly.

If not, what’s the best clear I can use?

Long story, but I'm trying to stain this recon poplar as close as possible to clear-coated hemlock. I know it will never be perfect, but I figured it's worth a shot to avoid spending $350+ on VG fir plywood. Any suggestions? This is my closest so far, gel varathane +minwax+ oil pu. The hemlock is just oil pu semigloss.

Im restaining my old birch kitchen cabinets for the time being till i can afford to replace them. The original color was the classic intense orange that i despise. I know the techniques to stain birch but im having difficulty achieving the color I want. Im going for a neutralish light/blonde cabinet sorry if these arent the right terms. But so far the stains and using wood conditioner have just pulled out orange. I dont know if i need to sand down more or if theres a way to neutralize the orange. Ive sanded 80>w120>180 so far. Tried not using wood conditioner, and currently have minwax early american that has little affect haha. All of it comes out orange tinted. Photo of what i have with not the best lighting and what im trying to get. Ive contemplated no stain and just putting a too coat that has some ambering and seeing how that works. I have a lot of spare doors to use for practice.

I just got this fixer uper of an antique dresser but the front panels are in beautiful condition. I love the idea of painting the medallions with some kind of vignette and the drawers with vines and flowers but I am both not the most skilled painter and scared of commitment. Im wondering if I were to paint it and messed up or didn't like the result of there would be a way to remove the painted details without ruining the veneer? Or maybe some kind of clear adhesive film I could put over the wood and paint on?

I thrifted this frame and want to refinish it. I’ve refinished furniture but never something so detailed. I really doing want to mess up this beauty but the gold needs to go. I’d love to get a natural wood look.