Staining Wood - Minwax touch up pens

[kgstakes]

Just curious if anyone else has done this or used them.  What I use to stain my wood or even to "weather" the wood is minwax touch up pens.  Fairly inexpensive, and really really easy to use and you can stain just a piece of wood or part of it and you can go over the same piece with different colors to get an "aged" or "new" look that you want.

 

Just wondering if anyone has used them.  I use them a lot on my wood structures, even if I'm going to paint them I will first treat it with some stain and then if I want a peeled paint affect, the stain will show through as worn wood under the paint.

[Gregory]

My experience with them is that they are just wax crayons.. 

They work up to a point, but I think you would do better to work with some of the original stain.

[Chuck Seiler]

I have used them.  The one I used was not wax, but indeed stain.  The problem was the stain in the pen was not the same color as the stain in the can, even though they had the same name (golden oak).  I agree with Gregory, go with the original 'in the can' stain.

[Gregory]

OK, my mistake.  The word " pen " did not compute for me..  I haven't actually tried the pens, but I don't see them as a useful modeling tool.

 

I have small cans of stain that I bought ten  or more years ago.

[kgstakes]

The only time I’ve used them is on buildings which are Ho scale and the foot print is about a 3”x4”.   I don’t use them to stain the whole model just parts of it like a floor or part of a wall, things like that.

 

 Yeah I agree, bigger project like a ship or even a bigger building sure use a pint or quart.

 

 Just another way of coloring wood, just like India ink and alcohol mix .  Places for it and places not for it.  
 

I’ll use what ever I need to get an affect I need or want.  Makes it fun and interesting what you can come up with and use to accomplish an affect you’re looking for.

[JacquesCousteau]

I don't have much modeling experience, so take this with a grain (or hefty spoonful) of salt. But I've recently started using a Minwax golden oak stain pen for parts of my Canoa de Rancho build. I turned to it because 1) I'm effectively limited to using basswood for most everything for now, rather than being able to bring in other woods, 2) I didn't like the look of painting the interior, and 3) due to work, I'll likely be moving a lot for the foreseeable future, and I didn't want to have to worry about lugging around a can of stain (or throwing it out, I don't want to waste it). So, a pen seemed like a useful way to experiment with using stain.

It seems to be working out ok so far, with some caveats. I'm only using it for some small parts--frames and a locker--and I wouldn't want to use it for staining large pieces (I suppose it could work, but basswood is known for not taking stain well unless treated with a conditioner, which I also don't want to buy a can of for the third reason above). The pen takes a little getting used to and it's easy at the start to accidentally press too hard and flood everything with stain. I can't say how the pen color compares to the can color. If I were staining more, or were staying in one place for longer, I would probably just buy a can, which would be more cost-effective. But, for the purpose of staining a few small parts, the pen seems to be working ok for me.

[Chuck Seiler]

My experience is kind of a blend of KGSTAKES and Jacques.  I went with the pen because I thought it would be easier touching up small parts rather than applying stain-from-the-can with a toothpick.  The color is not bad, but as I said, my experience is that it is different from the can.  Also, as pointed out, if you press too hard it comes out too much.  I had to press down off-work to get it flowing, then go to the piece.

 

Whatever works.

[wmherbert]

"Conditioner" for basswood is mentioned because of the difficulty staining.  What is it? I too have found basswood difficult to stain.

[JacquesCousteau]

9 hours ago, wmherbert said:

"Conditioner" for basswood is mentioned because of the difficulty staining.  What is it? I too have found basswood difficult to stain.

I've never used it, but I think it should come up if you google "pre-stain wood conditioner." There are also some threads showing people's tests comparing different stains with and without the conditioner, that would probably have more detail.

[kgstakes]

What I've done if I want to stain basswood and I've only done with when I want to do a light stain (rolltop desk for example).  I've use a polystain.  It's a polyurethane that has a tint or stain in it.  Multiple coats will "darken" the wood slightly but it's basically the same color.

 

What's nice about using a polystain, is that you don't have to use a conditioner on your wood.  It'll work on other wood species just as good but I've found it very useful for basswood.  Lighter colors work better than the darker ones.

 

I agree if you are going to use just a stain and then a varnish or lacquer, you need to put a conditioner on your basswood parts so that the wood doesn't steak or get to dark in some areas.

 

If I'm going to clear coat the wood project, I like to use a marine varnish because I like the "amber tone" it gives the wood.  I've only used a water base clear finish once and really don't like it.  No life to the wood, looks very plain to me (in my humble opinion).

 

Anyway, that's my two cents worth on finish basswood.

[kgstakes]

Continuation from my last post here. 

 

Don't use a gel stain.  It will just make a mess out of everything.  At least that is my experience with gel stains.  They soak in the basswood way to fast.  Maybe if you use a conditioner, it won't be so bad.  But I've tried it both ways and never can get the result I wanted.  I steer clear of gel stains for any of my model work.  Just don't work for me.  On my larger projects in the shop (full size furniture, etc.). I've used gel stain with good results.  Just can't get it right on my model work.

 

Anyone ever try gel stains for your projects??