# Finishing pine doors



## caybound (Apr 10, 2010)

I've had poor results staining pine doors and was hoping for suggestions. I'm thinking maybe boiled linseed? My goal is a light colored finished, doesn't have to be super slick as these will be in a beach house with a rustic decor. Oh, 2 are louvered!


----------



## JW_in_Indy (Mar 20, 2009)

caybound said:


> I've had poor results staining pine doors and was hoping for suggestions. I'm thinking maybe boiled linseed? My goal is a light colored finished, doesn't have to be super slick as these will be in a beach house with a rustic decor. Oh, 2 are louvered!


Well are you asking about stain or finish? They are different. BLO is generally a component of the final finish not a stain.

If you're just looking for a bit of light golden color, you could mix equal parts of BLO, Varnish and Mineral Spirits. Simply wipe this one on liberally, let it flash off (dry) and give everything a very light sanding with #320. Wipe the sanding dust off with mineral spirits and then repeat with a second coat. Your pine will have a very light golden honey hue (from the varnish and BLO) and you will have a nice durable finish that's not too dull nor too shiney.


----------



## JW_in_Indy (Mar 20, 2009)

If you are actually looking to stain the pine doors prior to finishing.... I generally use a couple of spit or wash coats of a 1# cut of dewaxed shellac as a conditioner prior to using any stain. This helps tremendously cut down on the splotchyness that you tend to get when staining pine. Next I find a dye stain (either water or alcohol based) or a gel stain works best on pine. These are stains that tend to uniformly color the surface of the wood rather than a pigmented penetrating stain that tries to soak into the wood. A penetrating stain and pine, no mater how well you've prepared the wood, just doesn't look as good as a dye or gel stain IMHO.

Also, a most often overlooked step is the actual wood preparation. Pine and Poplar in particular, I find benifit greatly from some thorough sanding prior to staining. I generally start with #120, then go to #150, then #180 and finish off with #220 vacuuming and wiping between each coat with a rag soaked in mineral spirits. Skipping from #150 right to #220 won't get it done. It needs to be a natural progression as each step removes the scratches and abrasions of the previous step. And #220 simply cannot remove those from #150 paper so you get a lousy sanding and ultimately stain job if you try to cut corners during the wood prep.

The bottom line is to practice, practice and practice some more on scrap until you get the desired look you want to achieve. Keep a staining/finishing schedule on each piece of scrap so that when you nail the one you want.... it's written down and repeatable.

Good luck....


----------



## caybound (Apr 10, 2010)

Thanks JW. I don't want to bother with staining, The mix you described sounds perfect . Amber or honey tone will be fine.


----------



## caybound (Apr 10, 2010)

Any suggestions for varnish type?


----------



## ash123 (Mar 14, 2010)

Pine's no different to finish than any other wood. If you want to use a stain and minimize the blotching effect, just glue size and lightly sand before staining. Stain using a good quality professional stain, wipe using lint free rags, seal with a good solid content vinyl sealer, and finish with a fast dry solvent based catalized finish. Typically, the higher the gloss, the harder the finish. I try to stay away from vegetable oil, gel stain, and generally DIY products. 

Finish companies and some woodworkers supply stores sell pre-mixed glue size, or you can make your own. I prefer to make my own. I've sprayed a mixture of alcohol and clear shellac. I like the glue size better. Bigger factories bleach wood before they stain. They get really good results. They can mix birch, red oak, white oak, and ash and it all comes out looking the same depth and tone.


----------

