I want to stain white or red oak so that it is pitch black. I used a minwax ebony stain for a sample and after 3 coats it still isn't anywhere near to pure black. The Oak color still shows through clearly.
See the image for the look I'm going for.
I need to use a white liming wax to create this effect. That much, I'm fine with, I've done it before but staining is new to me.
Here's the process I've used so far:
Sand to 220grit.
Remove all dust.
Brush with the grain using a bronze liming brush.
Shellac seal with a 50/50 mix of shellac sanding sealer/denatured alcohol.
Once dry, apply a coat of ebony stain, allow to dry for 5-15 minutes (quote - "don't leave stain to dry without removing excess" it says on the tin).
Wipe away stain with a clean cloth.
wait 4 hours and apply a second coat.
I applied 3 coats to get to where you see in the second image.
what am I doing wrong?
Using the wrong product?
Wrong technique?
From contributor ro
Use a Black Lacquer or a CV. When dry, a light scuff,then a sealer, then a white paste filler and then a topcoat or two.
From contributor Ma
A CV?
From contributor ni
Robert has it right, go with a pigmented finish or possibly a black primer. Something you can spray, drys fast, that's self sealing and levels good so it won't fill your grain...a couple, three coats of thinned black lacquer, Thinned pre-cat lacquer or thinned conversion varnish (CV) should do the trick. If you want to go waterborne, you could try Target's black WB Lacquer.
From contributor ke
you could also use black dye stain. but if the color is opaque i would lean towards the pigmented lacquer or cv. Also i wouldnt use liming wax OR paste wood filler. Both are more work than necessary. Get some white stain base or white glaze. Wipe it on, wipe it off. Remove excess with a rag with a little mineral spirits on it, then scuff off the rest. Then topcoat.
heres a sample i did that took 10 mins to demonstrate.
1. Sand 150
2. Spray black dye stain
3. Seal with vinyl sealer
4. Scuff with 320
5. Wipe with white stain concentrate
6. Wipe off excess
7. Scuff off remaining
8. Topcoat with lacquer
From contributor ru
If I'm reading your post correctly, it seems as though you are applying shellac before the stain. If so this will seal/condition the oak so that it will not take the stain.
1.sand
2.stain black
3.seal (vinyl sealer etc..)
4.wipe with white
5.topcoat
From contributor JM
Rusty has it.
You need to stain before your seal coat.
Using a wiping stain will only take you so far towards your black base colour. If you need darker than the stain applied before the sealer, you need to look at adding a dye.
If you dont care to have the translucency of the stain, as others have said, a black primer is the easiest.
Looking at the pic you are trying to achieve, I would spray a black primer, seal, white glaze, then topcoat.
From contributor Da
I wanted a black finish on oak also I wanted the grain of the oak. The trouble with any stain I tried either had a purple or grey or green color coming through.
So I did a sample of Tremclad black flat paint. Waited2 days. Gave it a second coat of paint. Waited 3 days Sealed with magnamax. Next day I coated with magnamax. I finished my bar 6 years ago and it still looks great.
From contributor Sh
Bringing up an old thread from the dead to put my .02 cents in..
Sand raw wood to 150 grit.
Spray....Jetblack Mohawk M520 dye stain 6 oz./26 oz. acetone
Wipe with a Black wiping stain.. preferably something quality like D59 sherwin SB stains.
Spray catalyzed vinyl sealer reduced 1:1
Scuff Sand flat with 320/400
Spray tinted powderglaze (amazing glaze 3/ Mohawk break away)
Scuff with grey/maroon scotch brite to remove glaze.
Topcoat with solvent based coating of your choice.
