Steaming a stock and stain problem...... Advice please

[Telephonepete]

Can you recommend an oil based stain Greg ?

i sometimes use water based. may i ask why that was your first choice as oil and spirit are easier options.

[vbull]

It's what I've used for years with quite good results. Had to stain the wood as it was very pale.

[fozzy45]

Me and my best mate have had this problem before. We put it down to water based stain not able to penetrate through anything under the surface. This didn't seem to happen with solvent based stains. If I were you I would sand it back down and re-do with solvent based stain.
Fozzy

[Telephonepete]

It's what I've used for years with quite good results. Had to stain the wood as it was very pale.

yes but as you know water based raises the grain and you have to sand down again'. with oil and spirit far less so you dont remove any stain. if going for a certain affect i sometimes use water based stain.

[cringe]

yes but as you know water based raises the grain and you have to sand down again'. with oil and spirit far less so you dont remove any stain. if going for a certain affect i sometimes use water based stain.

I am not an expert, I suggest you steam all of the stock equally, this should remove any residual oils in the wood. Make sure the wood has dried, complete [very slowly] before staining. Different woods take stain in different ways, I am still learning, I use solvent based stains, applied with cotton cloth, [ & rubber gloves!] It dries fast & I can apply more if I want a darker finish, hope this helps regards Al.

[vbull]

Thanks for all the answers so far. Any chance I have changed the wood's structure in certain places by concentrating the steam and heat in one place for too long ? The texture certainly looks and feels different in these area's.

[vbull]

While I think of it, anyone used the Minwax products like Polywipe for example ? Seen some amazing results with this stuff on youtube.

[rancidtom]

Something has occurred to me, you say the areas not taking stain are in and around the damaged areas? I think maybe the previous owner has possibly applied some sort of varnish, polish or wax to hide the damage, your steaming may have not removed all the traces of this even though it has raised the damage there are still bits of it bunging up the xylem tubes preventing the water based stain penetrating.
Try soaking some turpentine into the area, it may dilute the remains of any waxes or polishes allowing the water based stain to penetrate when it has dried out, if you can try another solvent such as industrial methylated spirit (not the purple stuff, the purple dye may stain the wood and not the surgical spirit as that has castor oil in it which will be left in the xylem tubes after the ethanol/methanol has evaporated resisting water based stain absorption).