Carpentry and Woodworking - A wooden panel with two colors of stain touching

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Spifflog
10-21-09, 09:59 AM
I recently saw a project (large wooden mirror frame) that I’d like to emulate, but I don't know how it was done. It was one piece of plywood, with different colors of stain touching each other. I’m fairly certain that it was one piece, and I didn’t see that a razor knife was used to separate the colors.

Any idea on how this was done without bleeding?

marksr
10-21-09, 01:02 PM
Welcome to the forums!

While tape was probably used, care must still be taken to keep the stain off of the tape. The more you rely on tape, the more likely it is to fail :eek: The light color stain would be used first and probably sealed with poly/varnish before the 2nd color is applied.
Gunguy45
10-21-09, 01:27 PM
And was it maybe some sort of paint as opposed to stain? I've seen some work with a graining tool that you would swear was stain.

Spifflog
10-21-09, 02:34 PM
Thanks for the help (and greetings) guys.

I know it was stained, not painted.

I'll have to experiment on it.
marksr
10-22-09, 04:38 AM
Another possibility is that the whole piece was stained the lighter color and a coat or two of poly was applied. Then a tinted poly [like minwax's polyshades] was used to "paint" the darker color.
Randy Mallory
10-22-09, 05:29 AM
I think marksr's solution would work well.

You might also try a gel stain. It doesn't penetrate as much as regular stains and I would think it may be less likely to bleed into the adjacent area. In any case, a light touch and wipe on technique will probably work best.