Stain and varnish on tassie oak coming out very blotchy

Hi all,

I've read a lot about blotchy finish when using stains but I thought I'd share my issue in case it adds something new to the discussion.

I used reclaimed tassie oak (pretty sure it is) from an old bed frame to build a planter tray. I planed the timber to remove the old finish and then sanded with 80, 120 and then 180 grit with a random orbital sander. I applied a coat of Bondall Monocel Stain and Varnish Walnut from Bunnings with a brush. The finish came out really blotchy and in certain parts I had these little droplets of stain/varnish appear even as I went over them with the brush mutliple times.

I've seen quite a few photos of blotchy stain but never quite this bad. Also, people usually talk about pine being prone to blotching but I've not seen anyone write about tassie oak.

I've now gone and sanded the piece back to base timber and I'm wondering whether to go for an oil finish instead of varnish. I would like to end up with a dark finish so not sure if oil will be suitable.

I'd appreciate if anyone has any ideas as to what went so bad here and how to prevent it in the future.

Stain and varnish used: Just a moment...

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Thank you,
Toni

Quote:

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Originally Posted by toni_k

I'd appreciate if anyone has any ideas as to what went so bad here and how to prevent it in the future.

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Toni,
my experience with those stain/varnish combination products has not been good. In my experience the darker colours like walnut always turn out blotchy.

How to prevent it in future? Just use a clear coat. No need to try and make Tassie oak look like walnut. :)

Pine is a timber that sucks up stain very well and goes blotchy because of the differences within the wood while its sucking in the stain. A thin barrier of size or sealer helps even that out sometimes. And it depends on what stain your using as well.

Vic ash is different in that it doesn't take stain so well . Timbers are described sometimes as to how they take a stain and they are all different. It doesn't mean you cant stain it but a different approach is needed. Some watery brown in a can from Bunnings isnt the go if you want to make a big change with Vic ash . I would be testing water stains out on some scrap and see how that goes. It means you have to wet sand / raise the grain with water and then re sand it once or twice to prep for the water stain first. Water stain will bite in and hold well and you can then either spirit stain over that when its dry if it needs more colour adjusting then seal in with oil finish. Or just oil finish it after the water stain .

Thanks auscab! I have some leftovers of that timber so I'll give the water stain a try.

Toni