Make pine plywood look nice?

I’m hoping for an answer as well. I have never had any sort of stain or color look well on any pine ply because of the massive resinous areas vs the thirsty portions. Even with the “best” pine ply… It still looks like Crap. The only thing that has ever looked “ok” in my book with it is many coats of BLO. Ive even tried multiple coats of BLO before adding tint to the BLO and finishing – just turned the “acceptable” BLO finish into complete trash…

-- I've quickly learned that being a woodworker isn't about making flawless work, rather it's fixing all the mistakes you made so that it appears flawless to others! Jay - FL

I hope you post your results and finished project

-- Desert_Woodworker

Have you tried a gel stain? They sit more on top of the wood than regular oil or water based stains and therefore may provide a more consistent color.

I’d take my scraps and test different combinations, but you should be able to get something decent.

-- Brian Famous :: Charlotte, NC :: http://www.FamousArtisan.com

Walnut veneer plywood will save you so much time and frustration it would be worth every penny and would look good when you done.

I don’t understand why people buy the lightest colored woods when they want it dark. If this is a commission and you have to spend hours and hours trying get pine to look dark and good somebody is going to lose enough time or money to buy dark wood in the first place. Just MHO.

It take experience and talent to turn a sows ear into a silk purse

-- Alaskan's for Global warming!

Test on scraps and use blotch control first, best of luck.

Walnut veneer plywood will save you so much time and frustration it would be worth every penny and would look good when you done.

I don t understand why people buy the lightest woods when they want it dark. If this is a commission and you have to spend hour and hour trying get pine to look dark and good somebody is going to lose enough time or money to but dark wood in the first place. Just MHO.

- AlaskaGuy

May I add, ALDER…

-- Desert_Woodworker

Test on scraps and use blotch control first, best of luck.

- waho6o9

+1

-- Desert_Woodworker

Test on scraps and use blotch control first, best of luck.

- waho6o9

+1

- Desert_Woodworker

I’ve use that product and it worked well for blotch but it makes it harder to get a dark color.

-- Alaskan's for Global warming!

Desert_WoodWorker

This is what Alder stained dark looks like if you don’t know what you are doing.

-- Alaskan's for Global warming!

Test on scraps and use blotch control first, best of luck.

- waho6o9

+1

- Desert_Woodworker

I ve use that product and it worked well for blotch but it makes it harder to get a dark color.

- AlaskaGuy

Thanks for the advice-
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Anyone recall “pickled white…..”

-- Desert_Woodworker

Test on scraps and use blotch control first, best of luck.

- waho6o9

+1

- DesertWoodworker

I ve use that product and it worked well for blotch but it makes it harder to get a dark color.

- AlaskaGuy

Thanks for the advice-
————————————————————————————
Anyone recall “pickled white…..”

- DesertWoodworker

I’m I missing something. How does that fit in with “The customer wants something like a ‘dark walnut’ stain.”

-- Alaskan's for Global warming!

Walnut veneer plywood will save you so much time and frustration it would be worth every penny and would look good when you done.

Agree on the walnut veneer. Otherwise if that’s not an option, 3 coats of GF Antique Walnut gel stain will make it look “decent”(assume using a conditioner). Make sure the 2nd coat dries a couple days, and use a very light coat for the 3rd and don’t wipe it off. Its kind of like limo tinting the plywood.

The only way to make pine plywood look good is to paint it.

-- Bondo Gaposis

Zinsser makes a wood bleach product which takes the yellow/orange tint out of pine and afterward it takes the stain evenly. It’s more work but makes a nice finish.

Minwax has a conditioner for pine. It helps to keep from getting those dark splotchy areas. I have used it before and works. But test first. Pine is really hard to stain dark. Lighter stains work better.