2009 5 Dec

Bare Wood Furniture – Sanding And Experimentation

When staining your bare wood furniture, it is important to understand just how vital sanding and experimentation are, as these two aspects of the process can dramatically impact the overall appearance of your finished product.

Most people intuitively understand the significance of sanding as a pre-requisite to the wood staining process, even if they do not fully grasp the reasons why. Simply put, sanding “opens the pores” of the wood, enabling the stain to soak into it. Use a different grain sand paper (220 vs. 240) and you’ll see a notably different result, but don’t try this on your new bare wood dining room table. Instead, before you start staining your wood furniture, go to Lowe’s or Home Depot and buy a wood shelf of the same type wood that your furniture is made of, and practice on that. Mark off six inch sections on the shelf and sand each section with a different grain of paper before staining. That will give you a good idea of what you want to use on your furniture.

In a similar vein, experiment (on another board) with various sanding techniques before actually sanding the furniture. Many people are enamored with belt sanders because it’s faster, but I have found the results to be less than satisfactory. Besides, when staining wood furniture, usually I’m creating an heirloom piece, and it’s simply worth the extra time. Again, try both on a practice board and use the one that serves your personal needs the best.

Staining bare wood furniture is more art than science, and one of the things that leads to color variation in the wood is the fact that the stain is left on different parts of the furniture slightly longer than others. In general, you should attempt to stain and wipe all segments of the furniture in as even a manner as possible (unless you are intentionally trying to create a multi-toned look, of course). That said, there will be variations and that’s fine. Some amount of variation adds character to the piece, but remember than when staining wood furniture, the longer the stain stays on the wood before wiping, the darker your result. As with the sanding techniques, experiment on a practice board to discover what (approximate) timeframe works best for you.

Staining wood furniture is a hobby that anyone of most any age can quickly grasp the basics of and enjoy. It’s not an “instant gratification” hobby. The results build slowly, sometimes over the span of many days, and if care is taken up front, if a bit of testing is conducted before the actual staining begins, your results will be magnificent, and you’ll have a piece you can truly be proud of.

To learn more about this and related topics, see Bare Wood Furniture.

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