"Gramps' shop" wrote in
:

Granddaughter wants the bed I am building her to be red. I'd rather
stain than paint. Any recommendations on getting to red using an
oil-based stain? The material is two-bys in decent construction
grade.

For a young'un I'd lean to paint, actually, as being more
durable and easier to touch up if it gets dinged (altho
that's more likely with a boy than a girl).

In any event, if you don't want to paint I'd suggest a
dye like Transfast. You can get some pretty vivid colors
that way, and the result still looks like wood (more or
less - a color that's not brownish looks a bit unnatural).

At one time Minwax would "custom mix" stains in various
bright colors (for use on electric guitars and similar
things), you could get an almost paint-like color that way.

As someone else said, you can get a "rustic red" stain
intended for barns, fences, and such like things.

John