Shop Tips » Finishing

Step-by-Step Staining by Paul Kenyon

We're constantly getting questions about staining okoume. Paul, a CLC kit builder, has written an article about it for the Shop Notes newsletter.

Stains change wood color. Not a varnish, stains are a pigment; varnish is a vital UV-inhibiting clear top coat. With stain you can have a darker, richer color than honey-colored okoume on any part of the boat that will be fiberglassed or epoxy coated. It's easy, but you must be methodical. The stain will be followed by the usual epoxy coating, and finally, by coats of varnish for UV protection.

Rules

1. Only bare wood may be stained.
2. The sequence is stain-epoxy-varnish. The stain first, then epoxy. You must take care to keep epoxy off surfaces you intend to stain.
3. The dye (stain) must be soluble in alcohol or water. MinWax-style furniture stains are out (though we note that MinWax has some water-based stains now). Anything oil-based is out - epoxy won't stick to it.
4. Dissolve the dye in water. Water dries more slowly than alcohol. Lap marks from stain drying too fast are difficult to remove.

Preparing the Stain

Dilute dye in distilled water to find a concentration that gives the shade you want. My dye came in a dropper bottle but you will do the same with powdered dyes.

1. Make a test strip of okoume scrap 3" wide by 15" long. Lightly sand with 220-grit sandpaper. Pencil off ten sectors, five per side. Number them. Sector number 1 will stay unstained. Number 10 will have the darkest stain.
2. Centered lengthwise, on a glass jar with a lid, stick a blank, adhesive backed, computer type address label. The jar should hold about one and a half cups of water.
3. Put a cup of distilled water in the jar and mark the water level on the label. As you increase the concentrations, top up to the line with distilled water.
4. Add five drops of the concentrated dye, mix well. With a clean white cotton cloth flood it on the sector 2 on your test strip. Make a note of the concentration on that sector.
5. Add five more drops to the jar, doubling the concentration.  Stain sector 3. Make a note.
6. Double the concentration again by adding 10 drops to the jar; stain sector 4. Make a note.
7. Each time, double the concentration (5, 10, 20, 40, 80, 160...) until you arrive at a pleasing color. Go past the color you think you like by two or three sectors.
8. After the stain has dried, mix a small amount of epoxy and cover the test strip. Epoxy darkens the color. Let the epoxy cure. If you're shooting for a light, subtle stain or you'd like to be very precise in your color selection, now apply the varnish you will use for your kayak's finish coat. Sand and varnish your test strip. (John wrote an excellent article on bright finishes which appeared in Wavelength Magazine. See www.clcboats.com for the online version.)
9. Decide on a color. Mix more dye of the proper concentration. Stain and coat with epoxy a larger test piece. This is a check on how the color will look on the hull. Be sure to examine it in sunlight to see if it's what you want.

Staining the Boat

1. Make up a large batch of stain. Before staining, lightly sand with 220 grit sandpaper, dust off, and dampen the areas to be stained with distilled water. Do not let it dry: keeping it damp will reduce lap marks.
2. Apply your stain with a clean white cotton cloth from bottom to top so no stain runs down over unstained wood. Let the hull dry.
3. Some pieces of okoume plywood will take more stain than others. Stain does not penetrate deeply, so rub the darker stained areas very lightly with an abrasive pad or 220 grit to fade them to a better match with lighter areas. Go slowly if you do this.
4. Let the stain dry and finish the boat as you normally would.
5. The match doesn't have to be perfect. The epoxy or epoxy-and-glass will blend the stain's appearance.