How To Stain Oak Doors

Teetorbilt

AA, natural bristles absorb the water and get really soft and funky. Learned this on my first poly job using an Omega Lily brush. Didn't hurt the brush though, they dry back out. Rinse, form and hang.

I have rolled it with a 4" finish roller with a 1/8" knap. I added FloTrol and got a pretty good finish on horizontal pieces. It applies too much product on verts. and I had problems with runs and sags. This occured during our summer temps too when almost everything dries very fast.

A guy that knows how to spray gets the best finish. There is another shop near mine who has a wizard spray guy. I still think that the finished product looks like it was sealed in plastic, and, by golly, it was.

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You can't solve you're problems with the same level of thinking that created the problems.

Albert Einstein

AAPaint

You know, they do get dang soft now that you mention it. Guess it's something I just learned to get used to, because I've never had a problem that way, heh! I can see the roller on flat surfaces with floetrol, not a bad idea at all. Only thing I'd be worried about is air bubbles with the roller. I'll stick to me brush on doors and such though, cuz I know how to get a good result with it, but I may actually try out the roller just for speed's sake on horizontal stuff. :Thumbs:

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-AAPaint

AA Quality Painting & Pressure Washing LLC
Jacksonville Painters
Jacksonville, FL.

Teetorbilt

I learned this the hard way. I was working for a designer and the project was a 22 ft. long X 14 ft high bookcase/ entertainment center. Everything was built offsite and installed in a day. To me, it looked like trash but everybody else was happy and the check cleared. I don't like poly's.

__________________
You can't solve you're problems with the same level of thinking that created the problems.

Albert Einstein

Zeebo

teetorbilt....

If you don't use poly to seal the stain...what do you use and why??

Zeebo

Gough

We use mostly Old Master's gel stains, but this approach would work for most any brand/type except water-based anilines. We apply the stain with a lint-free rag and rub it in in a swirling pattern in a line ~6-8 inches across from top to bottom. The swirling is important with oak, even more so with oak veneer, to get stain into the open pores. Once that "stripe" of stain is applied, we give it a quick wipe from top to bottom to eliminate any swirl marks. Repeat across the face of the door. Finally, we wipe down the whole face of the door with a clean, lint-free rag. Hang the rags out to dry, put them in a dedicated oily-rag sealed metal can, or burn them.

For poly on flush doors, we use mohair pads. They hold a lot of poly, so the trick is to wipe out as much poly as possible from them on the tray edge before applying. Apply the poly in long vertical strokes. It's possible to save the applicator between coats by wrapping in it aluminum foil, as long as the work area is clean enough that it hasn't picked up a lot of crud.

It took me a lot longer to type this than it would to stain and finish a flush door. Panelled doors are a different story.

Kuba

You can.. wipe, roll, spray and brush.. Everything depends on youre level of knowledge and application skills.

The simple advice i could have given this guy right from the very get go is:

Take some of your product and experiment with it on scrap until you learn something...

DerekTaze

This is great info, i know its old but it's good