Carpentry and Woodworking - new to woodworking

ok i have never done any work with wood and am quickly figuring out how much of an idiot i am. first, I am restaining a door. i chose to strip it by power sanding through the finish. when i applied the stain it absorbed unevenly and looked horrible. so i applied another two coats, since i didn't mind it being really dark, as long as it was even. it was close to looking good and i put on one more coat for good measure. now there's glossy dark spots all over where it looks like the stain hasn't dried. but it has. if i rub it with my finger it then looks whiteish. what's my best bet with this? can i lightly sand those areas down?

i'm also restaining a buffet table. having learned from the power sander incident i tried using a stripping chemical. The directions said to let it sit until the finish softens. I dunno how to measure that. Online directions said to wait 30 minutes, so I did. But found that when removing the stuff I was having to scrape really hard to get it to take any finish off. if i'm scraping that hard i might as well be sanding. and it still didn't take nearly all the colour out. That's a problem cause I'm replacing the old drawer handles and they were not stained underneath so i'm worried the visible parts will look bad even with new stain.

any help is appreciated.

Welcome to the forums!

Penetrating stains aren't formulated for multiple coats. You might be able to take paint thinner and wash off the excess. Sanding won't hurt anything but I suspect the excess stain would gum up your sandpaper in short order.

I don't use paint stripper very often so I'm not sure how long you let it set but I'm sure that 30 minutes is too long. After you brush the stripper on, let it work and when it starts too bubble up - that's when you need to scrape. It isn't unusual to need to apply stripper and scrape several times. Once all the paint/poly is removed, you need to sand. Paint removers aren't very effective at removing penetrating stains.

Solid wood can take a lot of sanding but veneers can't.

Most paint strippers have directions on the can - including time to work. Again, MOST strippers require multiple applications to do the job.

When using a stripper, I follow this rule of thumb. Apply generously, and leave it alone for about 15 minutes - by the clock. If the stripper is dull (they all go on shiney) it is an indication the stripper has stopped working - NOT that it has penetrated to the wood.

Apply another coat (without scraping). Wait. Check to see if it's turned dull. If it has (you guessed it) apply ANOTHER coat.

When, after 15 minutes, the stripper is still shiny, start scraping. The shine is an indication the stripper has attacked evrything it can but has not used itself up.


Remember, apply by brushing in one direction - do not rebrush.
All solvent strippers have a compond similar to wax that floats on the surface to keep it from evaporating. Brushing back and forth destroys this "cover" and allows the stripper to evaporate.

The stripper "KWIK" in an orange and blue can will remove SOME stain along with the finish - but not all.

"Remember, apply by brushing in one direction - do not rebrush.
All solvent strippers have a compond similar to wax that floats on the surface to keep it from evaporating. Brushing back and forth destroys this "cover" and allows the stripper to evaporate."

I always knew this was true but now I know the reason why:thumbup::D

If the door you tried to stain is pine, well, pine does not stain well. At all. So using a dark stain on it isn't going to give you satisfying results. I either finish it natural and let pine be pine or I paint it.
Check out a book on finishing by Bob Flexner. Best one I've found. Might be right up your alley.

I have found from experience as you will that some woods do not take to a liquid stain. For example, if you are going to stain pine you must use a gel stain so it goes on even. I have found by sad experience that when you use to much penetrating oil stain it can build and cause a shiny varnish finish in places and you don't want this. When finishing with varnish, to keep an even finish on wood I always use a 50/50 varnish / mineral spirits for my first coat. This coat is very wet and is used to kind of seal the wood so your next coats will be even. Try experimenting on scrap wood and lightly sand with steel wool between coats for a smooth finish. I never use full strength varnish straight from the can. Try thinning for an even application. I always experiment on scrape wood if I'm not sure .