Staining pine plywood | SouthernPaddler.com

Staining pine plywood

C_Brice

Well-Known Member
May 12, 2005
49
0
Iowa
Getting ready to start the Iroquois Take II. I do not want to paint it but I don't really like the color (too much orange) of pine ply with fiberglass and epoxy clear coat. I was gonna just tint the epoxy but from what I understand it has a solid color and doesn't allow for any of the natural grain to come thru. So I'm leaning towards water-based, semi-transparent stain in "walnut" for the inside and a "pine green" for the exterior. I'm gonna stain the wood before it gets a drop of epoxy. I have some questions (imagine that).

1) I'm gonna try some colors on scrap ply. I know that epoxy will darken it. For testing only, I want to use Min-Wax Helmsman over the stain. Will I get the same amount of "darkening" using this as I would using epoxy? Will the epoxy darken it even more? Or less? Again, this will just be for color testing.

2) I'm looking for a good water based stain. Most (if not all) of the water-based stains the paint store (Sherman-Williams) had were for exterior of houses and had some form of weatherproofing or waterproofing included. This can't be good for the epoxy.

Thanks again all,
CB
 

Zeb

Well-Known Member
Dec 18, 2006
56
0
Co.Durham England
Hi C.B
my boat looked a bit pink too :shock:
I used a walnut wb stain (dont know what brand,I cadged it off a painter on a site I was working on :oops: )
heres a couple of piccies that might give you an idea
before
3.jpg

after
nearlythere.jpg

hope this helps
cheers zeb
 

arrondo

Active Member
Sep 28, 2006
26
0
Seattle, Washington
CB -

I read somewhere (I think it was "Kayaks you can build" by Ted Moores) that for an epoxy-friendly coloring an aniline dye is the answer. It comes in powder form that you mix to the desired strength and then apply. It's pigment only, no weatherproofing or lightproofing, but won't interfere with the epoxy-wood bond. This is a shortened explanation - I've heard it's a bit fussy. I have no personal experience with the stuff...

A google search would explain better than I can. Good luck!
 

bearridge

Well-Known Member
Mar 9, 2005
3,092
4
way down yonder
Friend Zeb,

I like both colors. But bein' the 35th anniversary of "Deliverance", a pink boat mite send the wrong signal? :roll: :mrgreen: :roll:

I really am lookin' forward ta pichurs frum you 'n double steve......with yer boats in the water.

regards
bearridge

It matters not how a man dies, but how he lives. The act of dying is no of importance, it lasts so short a time. Dr. Samuel Johnson
 

C_Brice

Well-Known Member
May 12, 2005
49
0
Iowa
Hey Zeb,

How did your stain work on the areas of your pirogue that already has epoxy on it? I figuered I'd have to do all the staining before I did any epoxy work.

CB
 

Zeb

Well-Known Member
Dec 18, 2006
56
0
Co.Durham England
C.B.
I used a walnut varnish as I only taped the seems on my build,I think it will probly chip and scratch easy and wouldnt recomend that route but it sort of worked for me to hide my mankey filleting :oops:
Bear, Hope to be taking my peeroo up to the highlands second week in May,I go every year for the six day scottish trial(motorcycle) and I think this time is gonna be extra special :)
cheers zeb
 

Kayak Jack

Well-Known Member
Aug 26, 2003
13,976
171
86
Okemos / East Lansing Michigan
Zeb,

I'm glad to hear the Scottish trials are still being held. I'm an old dirt biker and marveled at a buddy in Okinawa who had a trials bike. He sure made jaws drop on our road bike riders when he put it up the side of a stone retaining wall and perched on top.
 

bearridge

Well-Known Member
Mar 9, 2005
3,092
4
way down yonder
Zeb said:
Bear, Hope to be taking my peeroo up to the highlands second week in May
Oh no. See what ya done Chuck! Zeb, it iz a pee row, not a pee roo. :wink: If ya head off inta the swamps callin' it a pee roo, I doubt ya will make it out. :lol:

regards
bearridge

ps We will be in the Carolinas that week. I caint wait.....my ribs wish it wuz a few more weeks off.

Rye will do providing it gets here quick. Gus McCrae
 

Zeb

Well-Known Member
Dec 18, 2006
56
0
Co.Durham England
ok,ok how do i remember this?
er ,row the pee!!! roo is poo!!!! nah no good
if he comes outta the sun paddle to the left?
if he leans to the right shoot to the sun
if hes playing the banjo run like hell!!!!
I think Ill just call it a boat from now on!!!!! :oops:
cheers zeb
(WC and old buddy "Squawk Mulligan" are tending bar together, telling tall tales to a customer:)
WC: "I'm tending bar one time down in the lower east side in New York. A tough paloma comes in there by the name of Chicago Molly. I cautioned her, 'None of your peccadilloes in here.' There was some hot lunch on the bar, comprising of succotash, Philadelphia Cream Cheese, and asparagus with mayonnaise. She dips her mitt down into this melange. I'm yawning at the time, and she hits me right in the mug with it. I jumps over and I knocks her down."
Squawk: "You knocked her down? I was the one that knocked her down!"
WC: "Oh yes, that's right. He knocked her down...but I was the one who started kicking her. I starts kicking her in the midriff. Did you ever kick a woman in the midriff that had a pair of corsets on?"
Customer: "No, I just can't recall any such incident right now."
WC: "Well, I almost broke my great toe; I never had such a painful experience."
Customer: "Did she ever come back again?"
Squawk: "I'll say she came back. She came back a week later and beat the both of us up."
WC: "Yeh, but she had another woman with her--an elderly woman with gray hair."
(My Little Chickadee
 

stevesteve

Well-Known Member
Sep 5, 2006
111
0
UK
Hi CB I was looking at varnishes today and in the UK Ronseal do some exterior ones in 'clear' or a range of colours. They claim to have good UV filters and be better than conventional yacht varnish. Zeb's boat looks good in walnut.

Hi Bearridge,
Here in the UK we haven't seen rain for a month I get the pirogue out for some final sanding before starting the varnishing and it starts to rain. :x Grrrr! It stopped agin 5 mins later but by then it was back in the garage. I want to do this hand sanding in the daylight to get it right.

I will try again in the week.
 

C_Brice

Well-Known Member
May 12, 2005
49
0
Iowa
Found some Min-Wax water based stain at home depot for about $8/quart. I picked up 2 quarts in a "rosewood" color. We'll see if this works.

Zeb, your boat does look nice in that walnut. I, too, am worried about my filets. Putty filets are not my strong point to say the least! I don't know how the heck I'm gonna hide em on a stained boat.

CB
 

Kayak Jack

Well-Known Member
Aug 26, 2003
13,976
171
86
Okemos / East Lansing Michigan
I'll be sanding off (most of) the Minwax I applied to a kayak last year. Luckily, much of it is coming off all by itself. Just like Chuckie said it would.

(He don't know much about tides, but he's OK on surface finishes.)
 

oldsparkey

Well-Known Member
Aug 25, 2003
10,479
123
Central , Florida
www.southernpaddler.com
Use Minwax Mariner varnish today and cuss tomorrow..... That stuff needs to be taken off the market , It Stinks.

I have tried it a lot of times and everytime it has made a fool out of me. It does not do what it tells you but what would you expect from something that promises the world and costs nothing. Nothing is what you get.

It might be OK on a table which is inside all the time but for boats .... They need to be burned at the stake for what they tell a person.

There stain is OK and works good on the stuff I did in the kitchen but there varnish on boats is a effort in futility. Good for a little time but in the long run , it peels just like you with a sunburn.

Chuck.
Yep... I Hate the stuff and NEVER will use it.