Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing Water based stain finishing question

I am in the process of restoring an old Win 190 and decided to use a dark walnut water based stain before I use Tru-Oil to finish it off. The makers of Tru-Oil also sell a walnut stain that is water based so I know this is an OK combination. My question concerns the raised grain after using the stain. Should I lightly resand it using say 320 grit and maybe restain or should I just apply the Tru-Oil as is? Any advice is much appreciated

Check the specs of the stain you want to use as many of the water based stains/dyes can also be thinned with alcohol which doesn�t raise the grain like water does since it evaporates much quicker.

Woodcrafters sells a stain called TransTint that is used by antique furniture restorers that is really nice stuff. It comes in allot of different colors from Honey-Amber (light) all the way to Black. You can thin it with either water or alcohol.

RickB,
I already used the stain as it came from the bottle. It was purchased at WoodCraft long ago and the brand name is Behlen. The grain didn't raise much at all but is nonrtheless noticable. What is my best course of action?

I'm NOT a pro and never used a water based stain for the reasons mentioned. But here's what I do when finishing a stock. When the wood is completely sanded smooth I wet it with warm water and use a hot hair dryer to wisker. I then very lightly knock off the wiskers and reapply the same process being careful to not go any deeper than absolutely necessary.

I do this as many times as necessary as some wood will wisker more than others.....depending on the density of the wood. Usually two or three times is necessary but again I find the oil based stains great IF I want to stain a stock. Most of the time I'm working with a nice piece of wood that doesn't need 'dressing up'.

Hope this helps

I can't imagine putting the Tru-Oil on raised grain. I think you have got to sand it back, and perhaps restain if the sanding made it blotchy.

utah708
Bingo!

Sand, whisker, sand... until smooth and no longer grain raising, then stain and dry quickly...

The finer the sandpaper is that you use to dewhisker the more times you will have to do it. Fine paper mashes the whiskers back down and coarser paper cuts the whiskers off. Faster cutting paper requires the use of a deft touch...
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