Staining TC Hawken stock

[oldwood]

Sealer is usually the first coat when paint/staining so the wood will evenly take paint pigment and not overly penetrate end grain and sheared grain. If wood grain variance and wood figure enhancement are not a desirable end result , don't use alcohol base stain. The first coat of stain on a figure and grain enhancing process is straight black alcohol stain. . Apply liberally , and immediately dry with a heat gun. Steel wool the whiskers from the wood using 000 , or , 0000 grade wool. The wood will appear grey/black and look like you ruined the piece , then apply the color combinations of alcohol stain . I say color combinations , because an infinite range of colors can be obtained with some mixing trial and error on test pieces of wood before the final application. Again , dry stain coats between apps. w/ heat gun and de-whisker as usual with steel wool. If a plain walnut color is desired , dark alcohol leather can be used right out of the bottle w/o application of the black first coat used above. Finish.........If the hawk is to be used for throwing , obviously , any penetrating oil can be applied after staining , however, if a built up finish for a fancy hawk that will be for "show " , Apply several coats of Poly urethane gel finish to fill pores and build up a show finish. The last coat of poly gel should be super , super lightly gone over with 0000 wool , used to very slightly dull the last dry poly gel coat. Final part of the process is , over the 0000, very slightly dulled Polly Gel finish , wipe a single thin coat of any thin wipe on wipe off oil like Watco Danish Oil . After any finish process has been allowed to cure for a week or so , a coat or two of Minwax Special Dark finish wax keeps the finish in good condition. The Poly Gel used in the process fills the pores w/out all the trouble of days worth of sanding with 1000 grit paper used in furniture finishes. Any staining and finish process is only as good as the process dictates........hope all this helps..............oldwood

 

[flashpoint]

Sealer is usually the first coat when paint/staining so the wood will evenly take paint pigment and not overly penetrate end grain and sheared grain. If wood grain variance and wood figure enhancement are not a desirable end result , don't use alcohol base stain. The first coat of stain on a figure and grain enhancing process is straight black alcohol stain. . Apply liberally , and immediately dry with a heat gun. Steel wool the whiskers from the wood using 000 , or , 0000 grade wool. The wood will appear grey/black and look like you ruined the piece , then apply the color combinations of alcohol stain . I say color combinations , because an infinite range of colors can be obtained with some mixing trial and error on test pieces of wood before the final application. Again , dry stain coats between apps. w/ heat gun and de-whisker as usual with steel wool. If a plain walnut color is desired , dark alcohol leather can be used right out of the bottle w/o application of the black first coat used above. Finish.........If the hawk is to be used for throwing , obviously , any penetrating oil can be applied after staining , however, if a built up finish for a fancy hawk that will be for "show " , Apply several coats of Poly urethane gel finish to fill pores and build up a show finish. The last coat of poly gel should be super , super lightly gone over with 0000 wool , used to very slightly dull the last dry poly gel coat. Final part of the process is , over the 0000, very slightly dulled Polly Gel finish , wipe a single thin coat of any thin wipe on wipe off oil like Watco Danish Oil . After any finish process has been allowed to cure for a week or so , a coat or two of Minwax Special Dark finish wax keeps the finish in good condition. The Poly Gel used in the process fills the pores w/out all the trouble of days worth of sanding with 1000 grit paper used in furniture finishes. Any staining and finish process is only as good as the process dictates........hope all this helps..............oldwood

Thanks Oldwood. It really does help and I appreciate you taking the time to lay it all out for me. Flashpoint.