Help! DIY stand with different wood

PringlesLFE · Oct 28, 2017

Hi,

Wrapping up the Birch plywood DIY cube stand I'm making for my 34G Solana...but made a major beginner mistake. The corner accents are oak, the top molding is pine or fir, I think the bottom molding is pine, and all the paneling/door is birch.

I have a can of Minwax Kona (very dark brown) stain + poly. Worried the contrast will be too dramatic.

Anyone have experience with painting a white base/primer and applying the stain over it? Willing to forego the stained look for uniformity...and only have a day left to finish.

Flippers4pups · Oct 28, 2017

PringlesLFE said:
Hi,

Wrapping up the Birch plywood DIY cube stand I'm making for my 34G Solana...but made a major beginner mistake. The corner accents are oak, the top molding is pine or fir, I think the bottom molding is pine, and all the paneling/door is birch.

I have a can of Minwax Kona (very dark brown) stain + poly. Worried the contrast will be too dramatic.

Anyone have experience with painting a white base/primer and applying the stain over it? Willing to forego the stained look for uniformity...and only have a day left to finish.

Best to test some of the scrap pieces of each wood type and see how far off it is. If the stain is oil based and you use a laytex based primer, the stain wouldn't penatrate the wood grain.

Test some pieces and report back. I'll do some research on primers for stain in the mean time.

dbl · Oct 28, 2017

I too would suggest testing some scraps. My guess is you'll see a difference. Whether or not you can live with it is obviously up to you.

You could try a pre-stain wood conditioner. I've used them before with projects of mixed wood species and it did help...somewhat. Again, try it with some scraps.

ReefEco · Oct 29, 2017

Hey there - if you are going with a very dark stain, the color will likely be less of an issue than the grain and wood pore size contrasts - a dark stain will homogenize the colors. As suggested, do some tests - painting then staining will likely not work, just painting a darker color paint (no stain) is likely easier. You can apply a pore filler to the oak (largest pores of the woods you are using), to mitigate the contrast, but since you are just using the trim, that might be a pain. Another option would be to paint some, leave some stained/natural. I.e. tape off the oak trim, paint the rest, leave the trim natural for a nice contrast. So then your "mistake" (you are too hard on yourself) becomes a "choice"! ; ) Nice work though - stand looks great.

Flippers4pups · Oct 29, 2017

Got tied up last night, Halloween festivities at the house with the kids.

As @dbl said, pre stain conditioner is a good idea. Other than that, a primer for stain is best, but looks like only for "solid" stains.

PringlesLFE · Oct 31, 2017

ReefEco said:
Hey there - if you are going with a very dark stain, the color will likely be less of an issue than the grain and wood pore size contrasts - a dark stain will homogenize the colors. As suggested, do some tests - painting then staining will likely not work, just painting a darker color paint (no stain) is likely easier. You can apply a pore filler to the oak (largest pores of the woods you are using), to mitigate the contrast, but since you are just using the trim, that might be a pain. Another option would be to paint some, leave some stained/natural. I.e. tape off the oak trim, paint the rest, leave the trim natural for a nice contrast. So then your "mistake" (you are too hard on yourself) becomes a "choice"! ; ) Nice work though - stand looks great.

Thanks for digging into this! Turns out the contrast wasn't terrible. Ended up having more issues with blotching due to poor sanding lol. Grabbed some darker stain and filled in most of the grain. Not what I was going for but still salvaged!

George Lopez · Oct 31, 2017

Testt stains are your friend

ReefEco · Oct 31, 2017

Job well done - looks awesome. Very classy.

dbl · Oct 31, 2017

Looks good...nice job!

jsker · Oct 31, 2017

Nice job on the stand

Flippers4pups · Oct 31, 2017

PringlesLFE said:
Thanks for digging into this! Turns out the contrast wasn't terrible. Ended up having more issues with blotching due to poor sanding lol. Grabbed some darker stain and filled in most of the grain. Not what I was going for but still salvaged!

Turned out nice!