Cabinets, Furniture, Woodworks/oilbase stain

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Expert: - 2/3/2009


Question
QUESTION: I refinish oak kitchen cabinets and applied an oilbase stain. It looked great and I waited 48 hours to apply polyurethane. Then I noticed it streaking. It looked as if I had applied a stripper to it. Whats going on?

ANSWER: Hi Debbie, did you stain on stripped, sanded, bare wood? Or are you staining over a finish?

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I sanded every door down to the bare wood. This was alot of work as you can imagine. The stain went on beautiful.I then decided that I would need to protect that finish so, I applied a coat of spar urethane to one of the doors. It started to act like a stripper and ruined that door. I cant figure out why it would react that way.I did try a water-based polyurethane but, some areas are still blotchy.

Answer
Hi Debbie, sanding a finished surface down does not remove the finish. Even if it looks like you're down to bare wood, you're not, traces of the finish will remain, enough to cause issues with refinishing. You need to completely strip a finish like this with a chemical stripper. There is no other way to COMPLETELY remove the finish from the wood surface, and with a kitchen cabinet it is a LOT of work as they use tough, sometimes catalyzed, high tech finishes. When using an oil stain (like Minwax), you must stain on bare wood ONLY, or the stain will not "bite" well enough, and as soon as you go to apply another solvent based finish to it, it will remove the stain. Even waterbased Urethanes have Glycol Ether and other solvents in them, they actually have very little water in them. This is a common problem we hear in this forum, and if you'll read the directions on your stain, I'm sure it will mention something about old finishes and new staining......post back if need be- Greg

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Greg Scholl

Expertise

Questions on Woodworking, wood finishing and refinishing of all kinds, repairing furniture and wooden objects, Architectural details, Woodturning, carving, tool usage, product usage, some chemistry as it applies to woodworking and related interests,cabinet making and furniture construction/design, etc. I have experience with all manners of colorants, finishes, paints, stains, dyes, glazes, and coatings, wood species recognition and usage,tool recommendations, blade types and recommendation,techniques and methods for many Woodworking related issues, etc.

Experience

Fine furniture restorer and cabinet maker for over 30 years,serving high end Antique dealers, Interior designers, Collectors in the CT area. Consulting for area Painting/Decorating and Building contractors on non painting issues..(staining, wood prep.,clear finishing, floor restoration and architectural detail restoration and repair, etc.) Sold, built, serviced, setup Home, Industrial, and Commercial stationary woodworking tools for a major tool retailer in CT. for three years, sold hand and power tools , provided knowledge, parts replacement, service, and on site service, Trade show Demo, and training as well.

Publications
Published in Fine Woodworking Magazine (12/97), included on Fine Woodworkings first "Best of Fine Woodworking" CD-ROM (2002) ...("27 year compilation of expert know-how")

Education/Credentials
Art School at Silvermine Guild in Norwalk, CT., 9 year apprenticeship in a European run Cabinet and Restoration shop in CT., various classes on subjects having to do with the field. Seminars from major Tool manufacturers, Skil/Bosch, Delta, Powermatic, Ritter, Porter cable, Milwaukee, Dewalt/B&Decker, Performax.

Past/Present Clients
Many varied clients including work on Martha Stewarts' Westport, CT. show house, many fine Antique dealers and private collectors in and around Fairfield County and in Woodbury, CT. (the Antiques capital of CT.), Golden Age of Trucking Museum, Wilton Historical Society.

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