color stain advice needed

[myxpykalix]

ok i took the bartop of epoxy and stain off down to bare wood. I carved
USMC and SEMPER FI in the bartop that i am going to infill with plastic resin.
Then i 3d carved this model in poplar that i will then pocket out the shape and inlay it into the surface flat.

I want to take the bartop back to that dark color but am unsure what it was? I want that darl color to contrast with the light colored letters.

Then i want to leave the poplar as light as i can while highlighting the details like the stars, eagle feathers, ect. My thought was some color of gel stain? But what color? Because i want the carving to contrast from the dark bartop.
Then after all that is done pour epoxy over the top to seal it all in. Be as specific as you can with brands, colors, ect.

[Brian Harnett]

Jack it looks like minwax dark walnut was on it before, the pics are kind of small so its hard to say. Get some and do a sample if you want an exact match you may need to tint.

On pine I sometimes pre condition with linseed oil thinned with a bit of mineral spirits helps control blotching

I do not care for gel stains, just my preference.

[bleeth]

Minwax stain is fine. depending on the wood and how finely sanded it is all stains will have varying results. Make very sure that when sanded before staining you get rid of all power sanding streaks and/or swirls or they will get accentuated by the stain. For the applique you can seal it with clear sanding sealer, brush on the same stain, and then wipe it off leaving as much or as little in the crevices as you want.
Make SURE you check that there will be no reaction between the bartop resin and the stain. Stripping that stuff to start over is sheer hell. Since you are inexperienced at this you should consult directly with the tech support of the resin manufacturer for their recommendations and guidance. That is what they do for a living. I would specifically not seal with oil without their blessing. You need your bartop to bond to the finish well or it will lift sooner or later and that looks really bad.

[Burkhardt]

I built a bamboo bathroom sink cabinet a while ago where the top has an epoxy flood cover. I thought it was a good idea to seal the surface with nitro sanding sealer first. Turned out this was actually not a good idea. You can see the sealer surface as a kind of glittering film inside the epoxy. Not very visible but also not as good as it could be. For a while I feared that the epoxy might even lift off and ruin everything but that did not happen so far. The instructions do actually say to seal the wood only with a thin film of epoxy, let it start setting half-hard for a few hours while flaming away all air bubbles and only then apply the flood coat. I need to learn following instructions....

Anyway, might not be an issue with color stain but it may be worthwhile to do a test on scrap wood first. And be careful with clear stuff under epoxy.

[myxpykalix]

"Make SURE you check that there will be no reaction between the bartop resin and the stain. Stripping that stuff to start over is sheer hell. Since you are inexperienced at this you should consult directly with the tech support of the resin manufacturer for their recommendations and guidance."

Dave i called TAP plastics when i ordered it and told them what i wanted to do and the steps i was taking and they said it should be fine. I did forget to ask what grits i should use in sanding the plastic.
The applique is poplar and what i want to do is exentuate the details while leaving the rest as light as possible to show the contrast from the dark bar stain and the poplar.
Thanks for your advice.

Gert, Regarding the epoxy coat over top.You can see in the pix i got a little sloppy with the resin and it tended to expand. After i sand that down flat and stain and then get ready to do my flood fill of the epoxy how would you recommend keeping the epoxy contained on the top?
I thought maybe clamp some thin boards to the edges all around because i didn't think just taping the edges would do it.
Thanks for your advice

[Burkhardt]

[I]"...Gert, Regarding the epoxy coat over top.You can see in the pix i got a little sloppy with the resin and it tended to expand. After i sand that down flat and stain and then get ready to do my flood fill of the epoxy how would you recommend keeping the epoxy contained on the top? I thought maybe clamp some thin boards to the edges all around because i didn't think just taping the edges would do it....

Ah, that is easy. You don't contain it.

Finish the vertical sides of the table as needed and then protect them with masking tape (and plastic film if there are legs or other stuff further down) but do not go higher with the tape edge than the table surface. Then you do the epoxy seal coat and subsequent flood pour on the surface. MAKE SURE THE TABLE IS ABSOLUTELY LEVEL!!!. You can help distributing the poured-on epoxy (typically 1/10 to 1/8 inch thick) with a new clean brush that does not lose hairs. As you get to the edges, there will be some epoxy dribbling down the masked-off sides. No problem (except for the shop floor), just let it run. This flowing process will create a nice round beveled edge. Just make sure to remove the masking tape after the epoxy gels up and does not run anymore, but before it gets so hard that you rip the masking tape. Once everything is set up hard you need only a quick swipe with sand paper to remove remaining small ridges. Oh, another thing...NO DUST WHATSOEVER. Keep a small butane torch handy to pop any bubbles. A hot air gun works just as well for the bubbles but may spew more dust than you think.

If you would attach a hard strip around the edge you end up with a hell of a bevel sanding and polishing job. This is not the idea of the epoxy coat. Normally it will give you an even glossy and smooth surface without any sanding and polishing. I found it actually pretty easy to do.

[myxpykalix]

Hadn't thought of it that way of letting it flow.The problem i see with that is that what you have to do is put on one coat, let it dry, then apply another coat, repeat till you get the thickness of epoxy you want, correct?

[Burkhardt]

No, you just brush on that first seal coat thin, let it set for 3-6 hours (depending on temperature), then pour the flood coat all at once.
Keep in mind, this is not water but a pretty viscous liquid and the surface tension will tend to form a domed edge. If you have e.g. a 1/10" layer very little will run off the side(assuming a level surface). It will stay on top. If you have an area close to the edge poured too thick and it runs too much, just take the brush and re-distribute.


Instructions from US-Composites: http://www.uscomposites.com/pdf/kkote.pdf

[Ken Sully]

Jack
Sometimes when I need to get a dark color I have used a wood dye.

I use is:
Lockwood's water soluble dye powder. Comes in many colors. Just mix the powder with water.

[myxpykalix]

I was advised that this product is better then regular epoxy because it does not create bubbles. Has anone used this? It comes from Lowes. It is a 2 part like epoxy

[Justin G]

Jack,
Regarding the coloring. Please forgive me if I'm insulting anyone's intelligence. The minwax referenced above is a pigment stain. The binder used in the box stores minwax products are like microscopic BBs that fill pores and accentuate voids. You can build darker coloring over "blemishes" by flooding the area and wiping with a rag. This technique can lend itself to pretty interesting looking patterns and makes mistakes look like they were intentional. Now for an even coloring, what you want is a dye stain. This penetrates the wood in even amounts regardless of open/ closed grain, etc. General finishes makes decent dye stains that are both water and oil based. I have zero experience with epoxy so I cannot offer opinions there. If you elect to use the water based dye stain, I'm sure you know but you'll have to contend with dewhiskering the swollen wood fibers after applying it. You can mitigate this by spraying the surface to be dyed with a water spray bottle before dying lightly and sand away the newly formed rough spots. Then applying the dye stain should not affect the surface. 26706

The picture attached is using that same minwax dark walnut pigment stain on hard maple.

[Justin G]

Oh and that picture showed the stain being applied with a foam brush. You can see sanding streaks and tear out that actually look cool. And engraved words and v carved chamfers really pop. IMO.