Dockside Chat - Gun Cabinet Finished w/Pics

I finally got some time to finish staining my gun cabinet project.
I am pretty happy with the way it turned out especially since this is the second piece of furniture I have built, and first stained piece.
Here are some pics. I don't know how to use the camera that well so these are the best I could manage.

(This is an updated old thread where I asked about stain advice)

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Spray it

Spray it
I thought about that. I would have to find someone to do it for me and not sure what the cost would be. Anyone have a ball park idea on cost?

NO :o don't spray it. Just use old rags and rub on your stain, then let it sit a bit and wipe it off. Experiment with the same type of wood sanded the same way before you go for it. You can rub more stain on again and again until you get the color you want. Once you are happy with the color, steel wool it with 000 or 0000 and wipe it good with tack cloth. Then use those foam brushes (get a bunch because they are throw-aways) and put VERY thin coats on and let dry thoroughly between coats, steel wooling and tack clothing between coats. That's it.

You can use wood conditioner first also

I plan to use wood conditioner.

Just concerned I will have too much build up in areas where I start and stop leaving visible lines when finished. I will probably construct a box and test what type of results I get by starting and stoping at the corners.

Be careful with conditioner. I personally never use them. It can make your stain blotchy or uneven. After you stain the wood you can go with a sanding sealer to make the poly a little easier to finish.

Be careful with conditioner. I personally never use them. It can make your stain blotchy or uneven. After you stain the wood you can go with a sanding sealer to make the poly a little easier to finish.

Since it is a hardwood I supposedly don't need it but Minwax recommended it for all wood types. I have practised enoungh on scraps with the conditioner and think I should be able to do it without any blotchy issuses. We will see.

Just my 2cents - that sucker is beautiful - why not just get some classic oil based clear polyurethane and watch it yellow red and darken a bit over the years like classic hardwood floors. I guess it is all a matter of taste and what your decor is though.....

Show us the finished product. I am by no means a pro but When staining I have had equal luck with brush/rags or even just rags - the trick as you probably know is do it pretty quick and spend about the same amount of time on every section - sometimes I would try to darken up a spot that looked light only to find it ended up too drak in the end. Minwax has nice peoducts. Don't know nottin about conditioners but it needs to be clean dust free and dry.

Wood conditioner is a waste of time on oak....just go directly to staining.

I've never used wood conditioner, I don't even know it's purpose?
Anyway, I've stained 100's of pieces and never had any problems. Rub on, rub off. I will say, I've never tried a red mahogany stain on red oak, so maybe that creates some kind of problem? ;?Have you tried poly on some scrap wood without the stain?

Looks like you've done a real nice job. PM Garrett, he's probably the most knowledgeable here.

Nice job on the cabinet. How good the stain looks has as much to do with prep as it does with how the stain's applied. When you think you're done sanding, sand some more or go to steel wool.

Not sure why time's a concern, you should be able to stain that whole piece in an hour. Use a rag or foam brush to put on a light coat, let it soak a few minutes, then wipe off the excess. Repeat until you have it as dark as you want. The real work is in the urethane finish (assuming you're doing that). 5 coats with light 100-grit and tack cloth in between.

You should have built a bigger gun cabinet, then you would have needed to buy more guns.

danish oil and wax.

Get a few rags. Wipe stain on with one, wipe stain off with the other. Its not rocket science.
Try minwax Golden Pecan, real nice tone.

Conditioner is for woods that blotch , like cherry, maple.
I spray all my projects with conversion varnish, but after ragging on the stain, letting it dry, steel wooling it, an easy finish is minwax wiping poly. (it's just thinned out polyurethane, ez to make yourself also).

Before you stain: what grit did you finish off with your last sanding? With Red Oak it should be 80 grit; give or take 20 grit is pushing it. If you are into 120, 150 or finer you NEED to resand the cabinet inside and out, that is far to fine for red or white oak.

Forget what Minwax is telling your about the wood conditioner....they are just trying to make money off of you! Take it back to the store and get your money back because the product is junk even on the right woods.

Have you washed down your glue lines with thinners to see if you have any glue exposed where it shouldn't be? Now is the time to be fixing that if you've got problem areas.

What brand and what kind of stain have you got?

A lot of good advice, Thanks everyone.
I will answer a few posts at once.

I like the color of the wood as it sits, unfortunately it just too different from all the other furniture in the house so I need to darken it up a lot. I am happy with how the build turned out especially since this is only the second piece of furniture I have ever built and probably why I am very skittish about messing it up.

My biggest problem was that I wanted to do one coat at 15 minutes with the piece lying on its side to make it easier, which was why I originally had concern with time. It would have to dry before I flipped it over to do other sides. After reading all the posts I decided I will stain it standing upright and try to get the color I want in multiple lighter coats of stain instead of one heavy coat. Then I can do it all at once.

The only reason I was planning to use conditioner was because of Minwax’s recommendations and I really couldn’t tell a difference between the scrap pieces that had it and didn’t. Figured I would be safe.

I am sanding with 220grit per Minwax. I have done about half so far. Originally I was using 80grit but switched up. I guess I will be switching back.

Good tip on the glue lines. I thought I would just have to hunt them down one by one to find them.

I plan to stain with Minwax Red Mahogany followed by clear satin Minwax Fast Drying polyurethane.

Does changing the grit from 220 to 80 change the absorption rate of the wood?

Try a gel stain for even coverage.

And yes, the grit you use does affect the absorption rate so it's imperative to sand everything to the same grit level. However, if you mix hardwood plywood with dimensional lumber, they take stains at a different rate.

Does changing the grit from 220 to 80 change the absorption rate of the wood?

Probably. I was taught to refinish by a renowned Antique furniture finisher. It was a long time ago and I mostly did what I was told (actually, not a lot of teaching, but I learned a few things).

With hardwoods, I would sand with something around 100 grit and then go finer as you add coats of finish, ending with 220 or finer. Cleanliness between coats is very important. Good vacuuming after sanding, then tack cloth and then a wipe down with the appropriate thinner.

We did a lot of Shellac (beetle wings and all), so alcohol was the thinner (not what you'd be using).

For staining large areas, use a roller cover. Pour the stain into a paint pan, and dip the roller cover horizontally about a third of the way into the stain, then wipe the area to be stained with the roller cover. This covers a large area in a short time. Keep a piece of 100 grit sandpaper handy. If you see any scratches on the wood you couldn't see before staining, dip the sand paper in the stain, and sand gently with the grain. When you finish a side, let sit a few minutes, then wipe excess off with a low lint rag, such as an old t shirt.

Spraying will not 'work' the stain into the wood, and the end result will be a blotchy appearance.

Wood conditioner is useless. It's usually used on tight grained soft woods, such as pine.

Minwax products are junk. Their 'stain and sealer in one' products are pure shit, as are their other crap.

A lot of good advice, Thanks everyone.
I will answer a few posts at once.

I like the color of the wood as it sits, unfortunately it just too different from all the other furniture in the house so I need to darken it up a lot. I am happy with how the build turned out especially since this is only the second piece of furniture I have ever built and probably why I am very skittish about messing it up.

My biggest problem was that I wanted to do one coat at 15 minutes with the piece lying on its side to make it easier, which was why I originally had concern with time. It would have to dry before I flipped it over to do other sides. After reading all the posts I decided I will stain it standing upright and try to get the color I want in multiple lighter coats of stain instead of one heavy coat. Then I can do it all at once.

The only reason I was planning to use conditioner was because of Minwax’s recommendations and I really couldn’t tell a difference between the scrap pieces that had it and didn’t. Figured I would be safe.

I am sanding with 220grit per Minwax. I have done about half so far. Originally I was using 80grit but switched up. I guess I will be switching back.

Good tip on the glue lines. I thought I would just have to hunt them down one by one to find them.

I plan to stain with Minwax Red Mahogany followed by clear satin Minwax Fast Drying polyurethane.

Ok, forget what Minwax says!!!! Scrap the conditioner....it doesn't even work on Pine or Maple!

You have to re-sand your wood out; 220 is Way to fine for excepting a finish. Sand it out with the grain using 80 grit. Don't worry that the grit seems coarse, your finished product will be beautiful!

Don't worry about adding mositure to the wood with the thinners - automotive thinners not varsol. It is much easier to discover glue spots now then it is while staining. Staining is a time for staining, not discovering glue spots and cleaning glue spots up. Dispite thinners dries fast I would still let the wood dry out for 24 hours after washing it down and cleaning up any glue residue. Dried glue will show easy; thinners will darken the wood from the mositure whereas the wood under the dried glue will remain light in colour. It is those areas that will need to be addressed because those areas will not accept stain.

The Minwax stain you want to use, IMO take it back to the store and buy Old Masters gel stain. With Old Masters you can get any colour your want; the gel stain will make your life so much easier.

With gel stain, just dip your rag into the stain and whip your wood - don't be shy, it is fool proof! One rag applies it and another rag wipes it off. Don't worry about dry lines or doing one side at a time. Your cabinet is so small you have nothing to worry about...hell you could even stop in the middle of a panel and go take a leak and not worry about things.

Not all polyurathanes are made equal. Some darken, some yellow and some stay clear. Have you confirmed the end finish (stain colour and top coat) will be the colour you are after? Saying yes I love that colour of stain is one thing, adding 3-4 coats of a polyurathane can change that rich tone you loved so much to a colour you are not to fond of. Again I'm not overly fond of the Minwax polyurathane; I'd be taking it back.

Now if you really want to set your cabinet on fire, apply your stain, let dry for 24-36 hours and then apply Tung Oil. Nothing, I mean nothing makes the grain in wood pop more than Tung Oil does IMHO.

Looks like my game plan has changed. I will be hitting up the hardware store this weekend for more supplies; including Sandpaper, Gel Stain, Thinner, and Tung oil.

I will use all the suggestions here to see what results I get with each combination.

Thanks for the suggestion everyone. I will post when I have results.

Finishing a wooden project is hard enough without having to fight poor quality finishing products. The suggested products above might not make you a pro right out of the gate, but they will go a long way in making your life easier.

Let's say I stained out a table top 5 days ago. With the Old Masters gel stain I can sand a section in the middle of that to right down to natural coloured wood and re-stain it out to match without if ever showing. The O. M. gel stain is very easy to work with.

As with everything...your project is only as good as the products and equipment you use.

most all furnature manufactures spray there product

Finally Complete! Pics on page 1.

Water based stain is the call for hard woods like Oak. So let me get this straight- it is already stained and varnished, you just need to change it to another color?

I must say I was confused all the way thru this thread. I thought the cabinet was already finished because of the pics in the first post. Having read it all I can now see the light. Nice cabinet. As the queen would say, "Ya done good".
Mike

Cabinet looks great...

But why is there no locks? Do you not have kids? Does no one visit you with small kids?

They are $5 each at the hardware store and will give you some piece of mind.

Cabinet looks great...

But why is there no locks? Do you not have kids? Does no one visit you with small kids?

They are $5 each at the hardware store and will give you some piece of mind.

No locks because of no kids yet and none that visit. My plan is either to add a decorative latch that i could add a small combination lock to or add a normal door lock later when I decide which way I want to go.

Sorry for the confusion. I updated an old thread with finished pics.
Cabinet is as done as it is going to get.

Hire a pro to make one. :rofl: (as anybody can see I'm still on my stupid "hire a pro" rant)




Seriously though
:thumbsup::thumbsup:

:grin:Would you like a job for about $9.00 an hour. I think I could sell some of those:grin: