Red wood

[mattscarlett]

How do I get this red?

[thatsnotafestool]

At the risk of stating the obvious.....red stain or dye. The final colour will depend on the original colour of whatever wood you are using.

You will need to bear in mind what your next finishing coats will be (or more specifically what the base solvent is) otherwise when you apply those coats, if the solvent is the same as that used in your dye or stain then you can drag the stain/dye out of the wood. So you need a different solvent based finishing coat.

Having said that I have used a methylated spirit based stain/dye and then used a fine spray mist coat of shellac over the top (which is also meths based). Once it has dried it acts as a barrier and so you can carry on applying more shellac without dragging out the stain/dye (unless you are very ham-fisted)

[mattscarlett]

Any brands to use or to stay away from? I'm looking for a high quality finish, money isn't a conern.

[mark270981]

Morrells wood finishes for stains. We use the spirit based stain and AC lacquer.

As said above make you stick to the same base throughout. Ie Water based stain, use a water based finish etc.

The grit of sandpaper used will also have a bearing on the final appearance of the stain.

[thatsnotafestool]

That's interesting, Mark...I was always told the opposite and certainly when I used a spirit based stain and got heavy handed with the spirit based shellac (hand-rubbed not sprayed) then the stain got dragged out and ended up an unholy mess. Maybe it's the difference between spraying (which is what I ended up with using my mist coat of shellac) and hand-applying?

Thing is, Matt....experiment on some scrap wood.

[mark270981]

we never mix it - but we do spray apply everything.