I had always thought you weren't supposed to sand raw wood finer than about 180 grit when staining. Spray an even, wet coat of lacquer on the wood. It's easy to apply and is very water protective. The black walnut I've been working with has topped out buttery smooth at either 200 or 220 at a final sanding working up from 80 on a random orbit and palm. Here is mahogany after topcoats. I am preparing a sample door in black walnut with a veneer center panel. We've been using WB finishes for about 6-7 years now. This will be my first time working with it, so I thought id ask you guys for any tips or advise in regards to sanding/finishing. However, I found that a 50/50 mix of Minwax Special Walnut and Dark Walnut applied after necessary sanding, using an old cotton T-shirt, was nice. You are using a spray and wipe stain, *and* a dye? It takes a lot more sanding than any other wood. I like to use the fast dry poly from the local home center because it's cheap and really does dry fast. It is solvent based, but can be sprayed with WB coatings within 2 hours. 8.) Spray final topcoat. The piece on the left is an example. Wipe door with damp clean rag to pre-raise the grain. For this particular project, im going for a somewhat modern look, dark, smooth and glossy. Waterlox original sealer/finish usually gives a very nice finish to walnut. The nut, the shell of the nut (hull), and the leaf are sometimes used to make medicine. Target Coatings Emtech 2000 clear. A local bank needed about 60 blocks of black walnut machined to hold brass name plaques for its big muckety-mucks. Lightly sand with 400 to knock down fur. With all large projects, you want your steps and techniques to be easy and repeatable over large and numerous surfaces. From Paul Snyder, forum technical advisor: Hi all, Nearing completion on my first-ever project, a black walnut slab coffee table with an ash base: 247050 I'm just starting to read up on finishing (purchased Understanding Wood Finishing by Bob Flexner) and am leaning towards using wiping varnish on the slab, probably the same on the ash base. You can even add an overall burnt umber glaze after the first coat of finish for added effect and to enhance the grain. Discussion Starter • #1 • Oct 20, 2016. You can get a water-reducible dye that's lightfast (resists fading) and apply it by spray and wipe or by hand using a wetted cloth. Fuhr 165 spray wipe stain You just have to work fast and wet the entire surface quickly to avoid overlap marks. Finishing Walnut. We may receive a commission when you use our affiliate links. Then wipe off the excess and let it dry. 5.) Two full coats of top coats back to back with no sanding in between 4-5ml. 1.) I have a couple of questions after reading your schedule. Overview Information Black walnut is a tree. Thin it with 2 parts naphtha or mineral spirits to one part finish. Question Buy red, blue, yellow and black water-soluble dye powder and custom mix a sapwood. Too fine of sanding was supposed to close off the grain and cause the stain to pool on top instead of penetrating. Im about to begin a project using some beautiful american black walnut i purchased. I was most interested in your suggestion as it seemed very doable for this project. The appearance is only slightly different – but different nevertheless. Forum Responses We had some older scraps around from another source that has a warmer brown tone, both on the finished and unfinished sides. More about how I finished that in “Part 1” > The solid walnut top, above, is a slightly different story. By Glen D. Huey. I'm very ignorant of stains and dyes, as we try to encourage people to choose a wood that is naturally a color they like (or enhanced with glazes), hence using black walnut instead of a dark stained oak or painted cabinets. So could you tell a little bit about why you take the steps you do in your schedule? Varying a drop as you add the dye to the shellac is not going to create a significant difference in the final look of the finish, but try to keep each batch consistent. I'm not trying to mimic the yellowing effect of oil-based finishes (that's the main reason we switched to WB), just bring out any shimmer and enhance the grain and not add a greyish cast. In Techniques. 1 coat of spray dye stain to help pop figure and get even color. This finish gives walnut a dark yet warm color, and if you choose to apply it by wet-sanding, this too can fill the grain as above. Posted October 2, 2008. Since the ash base is dyed black and glazed with a gray stain for a unique look, I put that in a separate tutorial. For additional color and depth, add 1/2 - 1 ounce of the dye to your second coat of finish and spray that evenly over the first coat after it's sanded smooth. Try it on scraps of both woods before you start finishing the whole piece. I've never done black walnut, and the WB finish doesn't really enhance grain the way solvent does, so for this special project, I'd like to know if there is something I can use to enrich the wood and help it pop. If you were working with air dried walnut that had good coloring, then you could just use a coat of highly thinned fast drying oil-base varnish or polyurethane like a stain on the bare wood before topcoating with the WB. Any suggestions practical for a room-sized project? I'm concerned about yellowing though. You could always use lacquer on the base if you want a completely clear finish on it. Walnut door: Self sealing topcoat thinned 5-10% sprayed around 2ml. The first step to showing off these grain patterns is to sand the wood properly. Tung oil varnish can be used by itself, and then buffed to a semi-gloss or satin sheen with paste wax after 3 or 4 coats. Hand sanding with the grain is the best way to massage this hardwood into bringing out its beautiful grain, working with progressively finer grits of sandpaper as you go. Hold the gun 8 inches from the walnut at a 30-degree angle. I've never done black walnut, and the WB finish doesn't really enhance grain the way solvent does, so for this special project, I'd like to know if there is something I can use to enrich the wood and help it pop. 9.) The local Sherwin-Williams store suggested pre-treating with their neutral stain base, untinted. I also have an inexpensive gravity fed pot gun for applying WB SNW stains. Walnut can have some amazing grain patterns that, while quite dark, can be extremely attractive when finished properly. Fuhr 155 spray dye stain How would you suggest applying the diluted poly? The fruit (nut) is often eaten as a food. Products used: Home / Techniques / Finishing Walnut. The clear oil-base finish will pop the color, figure, and grain in the wood pretty good and once it dries completely, you can topcoat it with the waterborne finish without any problems. I'm not adverse to taking a solvent step to start, if it will enhance the end product. Warm browns and orange-ish browns look good on the steam dried walnut. Dust Collection, Safety and Plant Operation, Job Opportunities and Woodworking Services, A detailed discussion on staining kiln-dried Walnut. Sand with 400 or de-nib with maroon pad if grain didn't raise too much. That's a pretty good sized piece to get a consistent wet edge if you go with shellac, but I'm not the finish expert. Additional info if needed: I'm using a Kremlin air-assisted airless with #6 tip. I've had the same success with walnut. November 14, 2009. Walnut takes dyes and stains very nicely. As I understood the job, it required slicing up 10/4 walnut lumber into a fairly complex geometry, sanding them mirror smooth and then routing a recess for the brass plaque.