ah wanna white wash oak bench.newly made asking y'all advise

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
  • Hope everyone has a wonderful and warm Thanksgiving!
  • Super Cedar firestarters 30% discount Use code Hearth2024 Click here
jeanw

jeanw

Feeling the Heat
Hearth Supporter
Sep 23, 2008
402
ky
calling amateur woodworkers here please
I had a local cabinet maker make me a real nice oak bench.. looks to be Red Oak.( cause in meantime its a mess by the door with my shoes and now Mucks..). I should have paid the difference and got him to use "maple" instead) to put my boots and shoes on the shelf of...
the other bedroom furniture is maple I had made yrs ago. I "painted" it white its solid maple... I put the latex paint on and wiped it off some... then topcoated. day later with "polyacryclic." Luv the look . but maple is a hard closed grained wood. I got some "Minwax. " wood conditioner" will it seal the grain of red oak? I read old woodworker books about a grain filler.....
But the nice cabinet maker didn't remember to give me any scraps leftovers to try out the various stains etc. I know OAK is an open grained wood.. I already put MIniwax "natural" on the bottoms ..Hate the solvent
smells.
WISH I COULD UPLOAD A PICTURE for talk to see.dont pics have to be stored offsite the a link to for this site???
Bench is sitting in basement waiting for me....I know I could just spray or brush on the poly acrylic.
tried the stain and polyacyclic in Miniwax "Golden Pecan" on the counter combination stepstool/stool he made me also.. Don't like the look of it so its not finished either.. thanks y'all please be patient with me.
 
Last edited:
jeanw said:
WISH I COULD UPLOAD A PICTURE for talk to see.dont pics have to be stored offsite the a link to for this site???
Click to expand...

You can upload pics. Follow these instructions
To upload a picture from your computer click on "Upload a File" button to the right just below the post bit. This brings up a pop up where you can click "Choose File" and browse your own computer for the picture you want. Note that you can upload more than one at a time by using shift-click or control-click....different methods depending on your computer and browser.

Once uploaded you can choose whether the Thumbnail size or Full Image in the post. In the case of larger pictures, it is best to use the thumbnail option.
 
Are you trying to make the oak smooth like the maple?

I'm having a bit of trouble following all the directions and products you want to use.
 
If you are trying to fill the grain to make it smooth ( for paint)
use a oak grain filler . spread it on across the grain allow to dry
wipe excess off ACROSS THE GRAIN . so as not to remove from grain
use Burlap . Allow to dry sand with 25 or 320 paper seal and paint
There are probable better methods now I have been retired from cabinet
making for 15 years . it is not hard and gives a nice smooth surface for paint
 
In my house we have few rules, but one is NO PAINTING WOOD! If you want a smooth white surface use plastic,
I would stain it and many coats of Polyurethane to make a glass like surface.
 
  • Like
Reactions: johneh
greg13 said:
In my house we have few rules, but one is NO PAINTING WOOD! If you want a smooth white surface use plastic,
I would stain it and many coats of Polyurethane to make a glass like surface.
Click to expand...

I like you when I was running my own shop
we would refuse the work if the customer wanted paint
Stain is the only way to show the beauty of wood
any clear finish is just fine with me
 
Whoever gave you your information on red oak is wrong. Red oak is only open on the end grain (but it is very open on the end grain). It is traditionally used for shingles in some places. Also, it is a hardwood, not a softwood.
 
Better read about red Oak again
Yes it is a hard wood
Unlike the close grains of maple and birch, the wide-open grain of red oak is difficult to fill with finish alone. If you don't fill it with paste filler, the contours of the grain will be visible, even if you apply several finish coats, and the surface will never be perfectly flat. Paste filler is not a type of putty. It is a pourable substance made of varnish and fine aggregate. It tends to change the color of the wood, so if you want to preserve the natural oak color, it's best to seal the wood before you apply it
 
johneh said:
Better read about red Oak again
Yes it is a hard wood
Unlike the close grains of maple and birch, the wide-open grain of red oak is difficult to fill with finish alone. If you don't fill it with paste filler, the contours of the grain will be visible, even if you apply several finish coats, and the surface will never be perfectly flat. Paste filler is not a type of putty. It is a pourable substance made of varnish and fine aggregate. It tends to change the color of the wood, so if you want to preserve the natural oak color, it's best to seal the wood before you apply it
Click to expand...

That's silly. You should pour wood filler all over the wood instead of sanding it? Whoever wrote that should go get a piece of sandpaper and try that out. Sand it, seal it, urethane or lacquer it if needed, done. No "aggregate" or fillers. Unless you started with green wood or you're making the world's first red oak surfboard, the grain is not going to pop out once it's sanded and sealed.

Red oak sands down very nicely, and people have been using untreated red oak for shingles since people who knew what shingles were arrived on the east coast. (They use red oak because they do not have local white oak, which doesn't have such large pores on the endgrain). You can actually go on YouTube right now and learn how to make shingles with a billet and a froe, because people are still doing it.

It is really porous on the end grains though, and I don't use it for outdoor stuff for that reason. If you have the option of using red or white oak for outdoor use, white oak is better.

More reading on oak, including some nice endgrain photos: https://www.wood-database.com/wood-articles/distinguishing-red-oak-from-white-oak/

Cool video of a guy making chestnut shingles without drawing them down afterwards:

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.
 
Well, I THINK she wants to fill the grain and paint it so it looks like maple furniture that she has. Since she wants to paint it, she has lots of options as far as fillers go. I'd probably use drywall mud. Fill, sand it smooth and do it again and most of the grain should be filled and it should be as smooth as it's going to get.

Then the paint can go on. After dry, the poly could be added for that plastic look people like.

But she's also talking about stain and products designed to give an even color absorption while staining.

The OP's thread is going in 2 directions.
 
jetsam said:
That's silly. You should pour wood filler all over the wood instead of sanding it? Whoever wrote that should go get a piece of sandpaper and try that out. Sand it, seal it, urethane or lacquer it if needed, done. No "aggregate" or fillers. Unless you started with green wood or you're making the world's first red oak surfboard, the grain is not going to pop out once it's sanded and sealed.

Red oak sands down very nicely, and people have been using untreated red oak for shingles since people who knew what shingles were arrived on the east coast. (They use red oak because they do not have local white oak, which doesn't have such large pores on the endgrain). You can actually go on YouTube right now and learn how to make shingles with a billet and a froe, because people are still doing it.

It is really porous on the end grains though, and I don't use it for outdoor stuff for that reason. If you have the option of using red or white oak for outdoor use, white oak is better.

More reading on oak, including some nice endgrain photos: https://www.wood-database.com/wood-articles/distinguishing-red-oak-from-white-oak/

Cool video of a guy making chestnut shingles without drawing them down afterwards:
Click to expand...


I am not disputing that they were used for shingles and that grain filler does not need to be used
in all applications but for what the OP wants grain filling is necessary
short video that shows the difference between grain filled and not
If you were a cabinet maker of fine furniture you would know how to use and why
So maybe you should learn first before running your mouth
To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.
 
Wood conditioner is garbage. Its basically for someone who does not know how to sand wood properly before staining. Definitely not for filling in grain. Return it if you haven't opened it.

If you desire is to paint it and have a smooth finish, your going to have to do multiple coats with sanding inbetween. There are products out there to fill in the grain Im not familiar with them multiple coats of paint would do the same thing.

Id strongly suggest you stain and then put some type of protective coat on top of that. Oak is not really meant to be painted.
 
why yall think i wanted to paint ? Yuk I was trying to say I used a white latex paint wiped on yrs ago it dint cover the grain much kinda wiped it back off. Just luv the look of it. i did the same to the basement nice wood paneling. look so cheerful compared to just nat finish.
Well I gave up and just been putting poly on the bench now.. Dont really like the look too light . Thw woodworkwer up th street mentioned wood dyeing but since town is winding rosds driving s and yall woulnt want to be behind me these 2 lane hwys scare the cr out of me. I had to settle. Still havent completed the ladder stool yet either. saining
I guess I shpuld have consulted that cabinet maker.
Prev over the yrs, I would combine Miniwax "natural" 2 parts with one part" provinicial". I got that idea from the small furniture store that made my former dining room table ,, So there, LOL
well the armoire comp, armoire Im leaning into right now I stained with the mentionrd miniwax stains and acryclic poly over that. it gorgeous..... sorry for typo but keyboard is black nd im peck typeist. thank yall i dont see spell check on this reply area. LOL
how many of yall are po supp no mail today........lol thanks big guys.. oh hubby finally got dryer back togher what an ASKO nightmare.... anfd to fig out how to get it back on top of the washer? stay tuned
 
well ended up just polyacrylic it. hate it the look, but can live with it.
Now for the bathroom wall studs cabinets...like of the look of like whitewash.
Ended up ...used half white acrylic latex pt and half distilled water.. But this is red oak
my other kitchen step stool is maple... that Im waiting to get a wood dye. unfortunately can't prob get it locally.
Hubby forgets it when he goes to the city.. bigger city.
On one wood worker site ..suggested applying stains with new grout and mortar type sponges. But Unfortunately Hubby didn't remember those either... So used an old pantyhose to apply
unfortunately I gave away gobs of new pantyhose to local church thrift shop...duh.. thanks for listening guys
 
old T shirts are what we use
Remember to dispose of in a air tight container (metal)
fire hazard
 
It sounds like you are wanting a pickled oak look/whitewash. It have had success with using a product called BIN. It's a stain blocker with shellac base in it. Most paintshops seem to have it. You can put it on directly or thin for a more translucent look with more straight shellac. It stinks alot but works well for a whitewash look. Dries extremely fast if you require multiple coats they can be done within hours.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom