Water Based Stain - suggestion

[Stephane Hubert]

Good Day,

 

I'm looking for suggestion on water based stains. Which manufacturer for example.  I believe that Occre is one that provided water based stains.   I've always used oil before for wood. I have used Varythane oil stain this evening and now I remember why I hate the smell of that stuff. 

 

Stephane

 

 

[Jaager]

Just as long as you understand that the application of water to wood will probably raise the grain and will require at least one additional step to get back to a smooth surface.

 

Pre-treatment with just water or water with ~10% PVA followed by sanding or scraping, done once or twice may negate subsequent swelling.

 

If it is planking that has been bent by soaking in water or heavy steam and that was then sanded or scraped, perhaps any subsequent swelling will not be obvious.

There could be a curious looking surface if only some the the planking needed bending  and was exposed to water.

[Gregory]

What is your goal in staining?

 

Alcohol based leather dyes  like Fiebing's stain wood ( and everything else)  very well.  

I would experiment with dilution before using full strength.  A little goes a long way.

 

I haven't noticed any raised grain when I have used it.

[Roger Pellett]

I used Fiebing leather dye to stain rigging on my last rigged model-good stuff.

 

In my experience conventional wood stains do not work well on the hard close grained woods that we ship model builders like to use.  They are actually more like translucent paint.  After retiring, my father started a business restoring antique furniture.  He made his own stain-  oil based artist pigments mixed in linseed oil.  This is pretty much the same formula used in commercial stains.  Water based stains would use a water soluble pigment and water.  In both cases, the surface tension of the ingredients interferes with absorption into the wood.

 

I believe that a better choice are the various dyes available.  The chemists in our  group can explain how these work.  In addition to the Fiebing leather dyes, a wide selection of wood dyes are available from specialty woodworking houses.  A bottle would probably stain a whole fleet of models.

 

Roger

[Dr PR]

I used Fiebing light brown leather dye to stain some castello boxwood blocks. The parts were dipped into the dye for about a second and then rubbed with cloth to remove excess dye. The sides of the smaller blocks are a nice light reddish brown, but the end grain is almost black!

 

On the larger blocks the sides came out a mottled light and dark brown. I used a paint brush and ethanol to redistribute the stain, but they still look pretty awful!

 

Where the blocks were too dark I dipped them in alcohol until the stain started to bleed and they came out much lighter.

[Bob Cleek]

14 hours ago, Roger Pellett said:

In my experience conventional wood stains do not work well on the hard close grained woods that we ship model builders like to use.

Ditto. Very true. And both stain and dye will soak into end grain at a far greater rate than side grain. India ink (essentially thinned shellac and lamp black) will work well to mimic ebony on close grained hard woods, though.