Today we are going to continue through a multi-week progression on color application. I would encourage you to look back at the past week’s articles.  Specifically, we are discussing how to apply color to wood in ways other than with a wipe stain alone.

I have discussed the technical aspects of application and the equipment that you will need to succeed.  I have discussed the need to practice and build your skills with the gun in order to be able to be good at this.

I have stated more than once that if you know the recipe for your wiping stain that you can easily modify it to make it stronger or weaker.  This discussion will continue toward using that recipe in ways that will allow you to successfully increase the intensity of the color that you have applied with a wipe stain when that stain alone is not enough.

Let’s call this finishing system that we are doing now a wipe and a shader.  First you apply the wipe stain and then, as the name so boldly suggests, you wipe off the excess.  If, at that point, you decide that the color is not intense enough, then you need to do something to address that.  Shading is the correct answer.  But shading is NOT fogging on some more wipe stain over the top to achieve that intensity.

Also, let’s just throw this in.  What if you are matching something existing?  Suppose you get to this point and it is obvious that old and new are not going to come together.  Again, if you know that stain recipe, you can create a shader to compensate and bring the two together.  But that’s a discussion for another day because that modification adds another layer of difficulty.  Next week I will continue my discussion on the wipe and a shader.

Until next time…spray on!