Furniture, Wood and Cabinetry Finishing - Ratio of Stain to Polyurethane for custom color
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swstar
02-09-07, 12:21 PM
I want to mix red mahogony and dark walnut stain with polyurethane to make my own custom color tinted poly. What would be a good ratio of stain to urethane to cover without being too colored and so it will still dry in a reasonable amount of time? Can I also dilute with mineral spirits to assist with the drying time?
marksr
02-09-07, 05:05 PM
Won't work!
You can dig the pigments out of the bottom of the stain cans and add them to the poly/varnish but just mixing stain will thin the poly more than it will tint it. If you pretty much knew what you wanted/needed you could get the paint store to tint the poly for you. Can't you get the color you want out of minwax polyshades? Maybe mixing 2 different ones together?
If it is raw wood it is always better and easier to use a reguar penetrating stain and then top coat with varnish/poly. Tinted polys are better used when you need to alter an already sealed surface. When I make my own tinted varnish/poly I usually use a little oil base paint [or same base as poly] to color it in the direction I want, sometimes I'll use the pigments from the bottom of the stain can but they usually don't add as much color.
Forget using thinner to speed up the drying time. You are better off with warm temps, low humidity and ventilation.
You can dig the pigments out of the bottom of the stain cans and add them to the poly/varnish but just mixing stain will thin the poly more than it will tint it. If you pretty much knew what you wanted/needed you could get the paint store to tint the poly for you. Can't you get the color you want out of minwax polyshades? Maybe mixing 2 different ones together?
If it is raw wood it is always better and easier to use a reguar penetrating stain and then top coat with varnish/poly. Tinted polys are better used when you need to alter an already sealed surface. When I make my own tinted varnish/poly I usually use a little oil base paint [or same base as poly] to color it in the direction I want, sometimes I'll use the pigments from the bottom of the stain can but they usually don't add as much color.
Forget using thinner to speed up the drying time. You are better off with warm temps, low humidity and ventilation.