Those of you who have been here longer than all day know I am
trying to get away from toxic stuff, So, I've switched to water-based
poly (which I'm quite happy with), tea stain (which has worked nicely),
latex paint where I can, etc. - all water cleanup, versus mineral
spirits or paint thinner. And, have tried coffee stain, with mixed
results.

I was out in the shop knocking out some of my knock-down bookshelf
units, and ran across my test piece, with my coffe stain tries. It has
one coat of coffee, two, three, and four. The last time I'd seen it, it
was about two weeks after the test, and the three and four coat test
were still sticky, the four coat markedly mor so.

Part of the problem may have been that I didn't allow enough time
between coats for the coffee to dry sufficiently, befor putting on the
next coat. I almost wixh now, I'd stuck the test piece somewhere I
could frequently check on it, because the results look pretty good.
That would have given me an idea of how long it took for the coats to
dry.

Anyway, the single coat had dried within a reasonable time. I don't
recall now if it was overnight, or a few hours. It looks good, a nice
coffee color.

The two coats also looks good, quite a bit darker than just one
coat. I recall it didn't take significantly longer to dry than the
single coat.

The three coats are very dark. It took long enough to dry that I
stuck it in the shop while it was still tacky - a couple of weeks as far
as I can recall.

The four coats are not really noticeably darker than the three
coats. So, I don't feel it would be worth the extra time. Plus, it
probably took longer to try.

I used instant coffee to brew this up, very, very, strong. I don't
know if it would have dried faster if it had been weaker, or not. I
think it might. I've got a project pending that I think would look very
nice with the same shade as the two coats of coffee, so I may do some
more testing with this.

The tea stain dries very quickly, and multiple coats goes pretty
rapidly. It gives a nice shade, but not not nearly as dark as the
coffee stain. I tried adding food dye, but it didn't do enough to make
it worthwhile.

I also tried adding a bit of latex paint to the tea, which did give
a pleasing result, but I think just thinning the latex, without the tea,
would do just as well - making a wash, or stain, rather than a thick
paint surface. This needs some more research, but I think it will give
more a colored stain, rather than a "wood" stain look. I came up with a
very nice tarnished copper look this way, for one of my protypes. I
think this method could be very nice in some applications, especially
stuff for kids.

An afterthought. Since I tried Turtle Wax shoe polish, I've been
looking for more since. It worked quite nicely, but not been able to
find more. I tried Kiwi shoe polish too, which I can find, but I'm not
satisfied with that at all. So, looks like I'll just stick with
Johnson's paste wax, which also works quite nicely. Still got almost
two full cans. Hehehehe



JOAT
You'll never get anywhere if you believe what you "hear". What do you
"know"?.
- Granny Weatherwax

It looks good, a nice coffee color.

Very interesting - I'm all for reducing toxicity. Do you have any
experience with coffee- (or tea-) stained wood fading if exposed to
sunlight?
Also, I wonder if coffee could be dissolved in 1-lb shellac to make a
non-grain-raising colored finish. In my experience, orange shellac
looks good on red oak, but looks too yellow on white oak, so I've been
trying stains/dyes that would make it look less yellow, but still clear
and natural-looking.
Thanks for sharing,
Andy

On Wed, 15 Mar 2006 10:34:46 -0500, J T opined:

I used instant coffee to brew this up, very, very, strong.

Sounds like you have hygroscopic coffee residue on the 3x and 4x patches.

--
"Keep your ass behind you"
wreck20051219 at spambob.net

"Australopithecus scobis" wrote in message
news
On Wed, 15 Mar 2006 10:34:46 -0500, J T opined:

I used instant coffee to brew this up, very, very, strong.

Sounds like you have hygroscopic coffee residue on the 3x and 4x patches.

Maybe a little warmth followed by a sealer of sorts or coat of poly?

Wed, Mar 15, 2006, 8:11am (EST-3) (Andy) doth
query:
It looks good, a nice coffee color.
Very interesting - I'm all for reducing toxicity. Do you have any
experience
with coffee- (or tea-) stained wood fading if exposed to sunlight?

Good question. No. That made me think about setting the test
piece outside. But, I won't be using it for any outdoor projects, and
it might be water soluable. So, I think I'll just sit it on my truck
dash. I'll try to update in about a month.

Also, I wonder if coffee could be dissolved in 1-lb shellac to make a
non-grain-raising colored finish.

So, read the sig, then try it and find out..



JOAT
You'll never get anywhere if you believe what you "hear". What do you
"know"?.
- Granny Weatherwax

Wed, Mar 15, 2006, 7:03pm (EST+5)
(Australopithecus*scobis) surmises:
Sounds like you have hygroscopic coffee residue on the 3x and 4x
patches.

No, Maxwellhouse.



JOAT
You'll never get anywhere if you believe what you "hear". What do you
"know"?.
- Granny Weatherwax

Wed, Mar 15, 2006, 9:07pm (EST+5) (Edwin*Pawlowski) doth
ponder:
Maybe a little warmth followed by a sealer of sorts or coat of poly?

Possibly. But, I think I'll just try a bit more time between
coats, for anything over two coats, first. But, I think I'll mostly
just stick with no more than two coats, for now. Seems to dry
reasonably fast, dries well, and gives a nice look.



JOAT
You'll never get anywhere if you believe what you "hear". What do you
"know"?.
- Granny Weatherwax

On Wed, 15 Mar 2006 10:34:46 -0500, (J T)
wrote:

Those of you who have been here longer than all day know I am
trying to get away from toxic stuff, So, I've switched to water-based
poly (which I'm quite happy with), tea stain (which has worked nicely),
latex paint where I can, etc. - all water cleanup, versus mineral
spirits or paint thinner. And, have tried coffee stain, with mixed
results.

Thanks for sharing your results.

One traditional staining medium you didn't mention is chickory: I
have used it to even the shade of oak boards, and to match antique
coloring on old beams. Works fine, and you can easily use successive
coats to achieve the shade you want. I have shellaced and wxed over it
with no problems.


only one p in my real address / un seul p dans ma véritable adresse