# Oak Coffee Table Build.



## Bigred15 (Dec 22, 2008)

My wife wanted a coffee table for the Living Room. Everyone that we looked at in the stores was too big. So I decided to build one. The table top is made of 3/4" Red Oak Plywood with 1/2" x 3/4" Red Oak hardwood trim. The rest is made from the same Red Oak hardwood and stained with a Dark Mahogany Gloss Poly-Stain mix. The build turned out better then I thought, but my staining technique needs LOTS of practice. You can see in the pictures that I put the stain on a little heavy. The first coat went on fine, but the second just would't spread evenly. I hit it with some steel wool after it dried, but that didn't help very much. Any pointers would be helpful.


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## AZ Termite (Dec 20, 2008)

The table is very nice. I'll bet the wife is very happy with it. As for the stain, how did you apply it?


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## Bigred15 (Dec 22, 2008)

I prepped the surface by first using an orbital sander w/120 grit paper to even out all the surfaces on the table top. I did not use the orbit sander on the rest of the table because I didn't need to even out the wood anywhere else. The I moved to a power sheet sander w/220 grit paper on the entire surface. After that I put some 320 grit paper on a sanding block and ran over the entire surface real quick. Then I took the table to the air compressor to blow off all the dust, and stored the table over night in another room. The next morning I started by running over the entire surface of the table with a damp cloth, then let it dry. Next I stirred up the stain, and started to apply it with soft bristle brushes, applying with the grain. Applying it was pretty straight forward, I just dipped the tip of the brush in the stain, let it drip off some then applied in long strokes. After it dried, I took some 000 steel wool to the entire surface, blew it off, and applied a second coat. The second coat was where I had problems, it just wouldn't apply evenly.


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## CivilEngineer13 (Aug 29, 2008)

Just a couple thoughts:

1) 320 Grit is far too much. 220 MAX

2) Wipe off the extra on the first application after about 15 min. of applying.

Those are the two things that first come to mind why you got uneven staining. I've never used a Poly/Stain mix. That may be your main problem with trying to apply two coats. Not sure on that, I've never done it, but chemically it makes sense. I'm sure someone will chime in and correct me :smile:


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## Bigred15 (Dec 22, 2008)

CivilEngineer13 said:


> Just a couple thoughts:
> 
> 1) 320 Grit is far too much. 220 MAX
> 
> ...


I was thinking that 320 may be too much. As far as the multiple coats, the Poly-Stain directions state that you put at least to coats on. I may just do what I did with my bar and use a stain w/o poly, and then put on the poly seperate.


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## AZ Termite (Dec 20, 2008)

When I am applying stain to plywood I use a rag instead of a brush. It makes it easier to control the color. It has been my experience that plywood really soaks up the stain when you apply with a brush. It makes it darker than you really want it. I also have never had poly/ stain mixed.


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## Rick C. (Dec 17, 2008)

Bigred, i too used the poly stain on a project,it may have been something i did wrong ,but it looked like the pigment was suspended in the finish and not in the wood grain when it dried.I haven't used it since.Wipe on let sit wipe off.Nice table,Rick


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## BarslashJ (Apr 30, 2009)

You might try cutting it with mineral spirits or paint thinner. It actually looks like an old table that got refinished, lol. Nice work.


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## gregL (Feb 1, 2009)

Nice job! It is always a good feeling to finish a project, but not as good of a feeling as the process of building it. 
You mentioned that you wiped it off with a damp rag before staining. Was the rag damp with water or a thinner? Using a rag damp with water would raise the grain, which defeats all the fine sanding you have done. I always use a tack cloth instead.
I personally have had good luck with gel stains applied with a cloth. The tricky part is determining how long before wiping off. I always experiment on extra scraps that are sanded to the same finishing grit of 220 first.


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