Mahogany look on pine

I am interested to find out what type of stain people prefer to get that rich mahogany type of finish on radiata pine. Some stains I have tried give a quite blotchy finish, particularly the ones with a varnish included.:confused:

how are you applying it then? cause that laquer based stuff is relativly easy to botch if you can't achieve an even finish.

I would go for separate stain and finish. That way you can get the stain right before you start with the polish (I presume you are trying to replicate a high gloss french polished look). The big advantage with radiata is you can buy spare timber cheaply to test out your finish.

Sand it really well and then use one of the gel stains, then a coat of some type of sealer (either Danish Oil or wiped on polyurethane or french polish) and heaps of wax. Get some pine from the hardware and experiment with a dark wax like Feast Watson Carnauba Wax. You can apply the wax with fine steel wool to get a really nice lustre on the finish.

Using liquid stains, you can get more even penetration by putting on a single coast of french polish first - but note that this will then leave your piece susceptible to white rings etc right in the base of the finish. Have shied away from even trying it for that reason.

Also remember what the Woodies say - if you want radiata to look like anything other than radiata, paint it! :)

Steph

For even staining on radiata give it two coats of Feast Watson Fungishield, allowing it to dry between coats. For the end grain use Feast Watson sanding sealer rubbed in well with a rag so you dont have to sand, this will stop the black look of the end grain.
When this is all thoroughly dry, then do your staining.
TIP> practise on some scrap first. It realy works.
Regards
Termite

Adrian - I have never had success with stain/varnish mixes. The varnish simply goes off too quickly, seals the surface and you have no chance of avoiding the overlaps showing. I like a stain that says wet and you can work it with a cloth until you get the effect you want. The mixes are really only suitable for skirting boards and similar building trims.

Termite - Thanks for the tip about rubbing in sanding sealer on end grain BEFORE staining - not that I normally leave end grain showing, not in pine anyway - but well worth knowing.

Cheers

Don't you just love the internet!!!
It's great to be able to get the advice of people who have 'been there.' Thanks guys. I had been using a brush to apply the stain/varnish stuff but I have now changed to stain only products that can be applied by cloth.
I guess it is just a case of experimenting with combinations of various products until you can get what you want.