Birch plywood can be difficult to stain without ending up with a blotchy finish. In this quick video I try a few methods to attain an attractive stained finish on birch plywood.
Excellent video. You effectively demonstrated how to apply the various stains, then showed the contrast between each of them and provided the viewer with the product information they need, should they decide to duplicate what you did, all in under 4 minutes. Extremely impressive. Thanks for sharing.
Couldn't have said it better. I am going with option one for my birch logs because bc I already purchased oil wood stain in a lighter color than what he chose in the video and I want it to be as dark as possible. I also dig the blotched/ cracked look, bite me lol. If I do more woodwork in the future, I'm definitely going for option 4. Ty!
Absolutely excellent. No BS, just easy to understand comparison and easy to follow results. Brilliant! Subscribed immediately! Thank you for making this, incredibly helpful!
This video was 100% helpful to my husband and I! My brother made us birch planters and we learned how to condition the wood and satin it properly from you! The planters are drying and a table also! Thank you for helping us!
this is great info! glad to see someone do a video on this, especially someone as adept at finishing. we use a lot of birch ply in our shop since we have stock approved for our laser cutters, and I've never known how to finish it well. thank you!
Well haven't started yet. But I have the chair out in the shed and my son showed me where all the stuff is. Stains and paints look pretty old. Spiders are a little too big for my liking. But no rats. My son lives next door if I need something. I'm excited.
Great video with none of the downsides of most UA-cam videos (loud video game type noises or quirky music, no constant coughing or sniffing, and no taking forever to get to any kind of point.)
Just found you searching how to finnish plywood, building a mid century style record cabinet. The gel stain looks perfect for the project. Although being in the UK, I can't seem to find it. Have watched through some of your other videos, I love what you do to bring life back into these little gems.
I use to be an R&D chemist and I made slight changes to Deft lacquers. Did whole studies on small various aspects. Can't say what, but it took months to get approved. I later made a precat lacquer in a spray can also. Those were good times.
With this newly acquired knowledge my project is a motorcycle fairing because its a wild idea I've never seen done , I have sheets of walnut veneer and considering different finishes, great vid.
Thanks for the info and the effort. Great video. At the end, it's all a matter of preference. For me, the best looking one was the second one, but is good to have the knowledge, that you shared with us, to get different results for different applications.
Go for it! I finally stripped the top of a very expensive night stand. I'm about to put the final top coat on. If it comes out like I think it will, my wife will let me do hers. Mine was in worse shape after something hot pulled the color right off the top. I couldn't make it look worse I figured!
Thanks for a very well done and informative video. I am making something right now using baltic birch plywood so this came at just the right moment in time. All I have to do is round up the stuff you used.
A coat of thinned shellac works very well also. Use denatured alchohol to thin it down, or you can buy the canned stuff that Zinnser makes called "seal coat" if you don't want to hassle with that.
This is EXACTLY what I was looking for. Thank you! I have a birch gun stock I'm trying to finish and want to get the best results. You made my choices much easier. Thanks for the excellent video!!
Nicely done. I deal with staining plywood all the time. Achieving a rich, grain-popping result isn't easy. Too much sanding, with any grit, is bad. Wrong grit bad. Pushing too hard or over-wiping to remove excess stain is bad. Makes the surface dull and even blurry looking. Definitely going to try the Behlen.
I've always preferred danish oil on my Birch Ply (or any Plywood type/grade really) and then just a simple satin poly. However, as of late, I've been making heavier traffic pieces. So, I've done the Danish oil, then after wiping, I'd let it rest 24hrs. Then the next day (or later) I would apply a schmear of thinned out epoxy (1:1 epoxy then add a 10% Denatured alcohol to the mix. You can also use 99% Isopropyl alcohol as well). I actually squeegee the epoxy across the oiled surface so that it puts a super thin coat on it. Then, the next day I do that epoxy schmear one more time. Once that cures, I do a very fine, 800g dry sanding just to get the glossy epoxy to turn into a satin appearance. It might sound like a lot of work, but in the end it makes it nearly bombproof, and it provides a beautiful and well blended finish. I've tried this with other oils and even the gel stain you used, but it doesn't seem to allow the epoxy to grip on the surface well.
I’d love to know what the 8 thumbs down were for, you don’t have 8 irrational exes out for revenge do you? A very good and extremely useful video, I certainly agree the last test looked best. Thank you.
Have you thought about using a sanding sealer from Deft? Deft sells spray cans and gallon cans. I think it would really help the visuals in your video with the light reflecting across the surface. I have a video on using two coats of sanding sealer, and then one coat of the satin lacquer coat. One coat of sanding sealer, and a delicate sanding with and sponge sanding pad from Sherwin Williams, will help the finish look better before applying the Satin Clear Lacquer. On my last stain and finish job, I used two coats of sanding sealer, sanding lightly after the first coat, to not get into the stain layer, and a little heavier sanding to make the clear sanding sealer smooth, and then apply the stain clear lacquer. It really helps take the cabinets from an average finish to a wow finish! I got pretty lucky in my video. I had the camera set up just right to show my reflection in the large flat drawer front while using a Graco Nova 395PC HVLP airless sprayer.
I followed your instructions except I used prestain and 2 coats of gel stain before the lacquer toner. It looks much better than it would have if I had not seen this video.
Hi, could you please write the name and brand of the products in the description? I live abroad and the products I find around me are a total mistery to me. 😖
I can't seem to find the H.Behlen brand of toner in my area. I did find that Klingspor's has a brand called Mohawk but the numbering is different. Can you give me any advice on what I can buy in place of the one you list in your video? Thanks for any help. I want to achieve the same coloration as you did in the last segment of your example.
I use birch plywood for kid's projects, I use a sponge and soak it in water then squeeze most of the water out, then I pass it over the wood. Supposedly, the wood its thirsty for moisture and won't robe the moisture from the paint.
Love your videos! In the past I’ve tried to refinish furniture without success, that was 20 years ago. UA-cam has made it easier to learn how I’m excited to get started. Any tips?
My first tip would be to practice on something that you're not afraid to mess up. Also, be patient. My first refinish was on a table I found in an alley. It took me forever to complete and didn't come out so well but I learned a lot in the process. Thanks for watching!
Thanks for the video! Quick, educational, to the point with great results. Love that! Now I will go use my gel stain on my Luan Birch plywood. Hope it comes out that nice. OH do you need to apply that toner stuff immediately or can I do it after it dries? Don't have that here on hand today but plan on getting some now.
Gel stain or pre stain are not available in the UK for some strange reason, aside from importing at great expense is there another pre treatment method that can be used?
thanks for taking the time to do this,say i wanted to build a speaker box for my car with birch,and stain it,first off i would have to choose a color that would go good in a car,so black,or something really deep red or blue,then were going to have lots of countersunk screws,so if i want to go with a stained enclosure would a filler that covers screws show up with these finnishes i speak of ? and im sure theres a lot of guys out there wondering the same thing,thanks if you can help.i dont get notifications so i will check back on here
Nice. Agree with your conclusions. Coincidentally I use those same products. Guess you have a Rockler, an Ace, a Lowes, and a Home Depot near you as well. Funny how you have to run around to collect the products you want to use.
My whole kitchen is birch plywood. I would like to stain the cabinets darker (they are a medium orangey yellowy oaky color right now). I have yet to determine which type of finish is on them (the house was built in 1968). Would you have any recommendations on how to go about darkening them? I was thinking of trying an Old Masters Gel Stain. I am also hoping to add a 1/4” thick Shaker style trim to the sides to dress them up, but am worried about matching new plywood to the older plywood, then staining them both dark. Anyone have any suggestions?
Gel stain is a great choice for this, IF you can get it to bond well. You have to get the surface really clean, and matt/matte to give a new finish a good chance of adhering with sufficient strength. So you're in for a lot of cleaning (surface shouldn't be the least bit greasy, can't emphasise this enough) and then scuffing before you begin the colouring process. Also, it's always advisable to test for adhesion in an inconspicuous spot as there's a chance it won't bond well enough. If you think the kitchen is contemporary with the house then the ply is very likely finished in lacquer as this was the most common finish in the second half of the 20th century (still used too, although lots of competition). This is assuming it hasn't been refinished since of course, and given it's been 50 years there's a decent chance of this. If it is still finished in lacquer new lacquer is capable of melding to old because it remains soluble in the original solvent(s), same as with shellac. So lacquer is an option too, but again the surface must be thoroughly cleaned first. And you'd be looking at spraying because you can't really apply lacquer to large surfaces in any other way, so you'd be looking at buying or renting an HVLP setup (that's an HVLP gun + appropriate compressor). The plywood matching will require some experimentation, first stain with something that mimics the existing colour and then (after thorough drying of the stain) using the gel stain on top.
@@DG-zl6ml Thanks for the detailed reply! I figured I would have to clean the cupboards with Krud Kutter and TSP. I was also thinking that the finish might be lacquer as we are only the second owners of the house and the first owners didn’t do any remodeling after they built it. I wonder if I used a lacquer toner if it would work? Anyway, I would like another option besides just painting everything white. lol! And, yeah, spraying would be a good option if I used lacquer or if I end up painting because there are just SO many cupboards! I will keep working on a solution because they really need some help. Thanks again for your lengthy reply!
I just lightly spray a light coat of the stain over the wiped on stain with a conditioner under it to even the color out . No need for a separate toner.
I don't think they had gel stain back in the sixties. That's very nice stuff. I'm retired and thinking of going back to work for my sanity. I can't really find something without investing way too much time (flipping houses) and so much money and stress. Redoing furniture appears to be right up my ally. I'll practice on my own stuff that's falling apart then maybe do furniture repair. We've got all the tools just sitting there.
I have never used the toner lacquer before - now I will! 4 Coats? Thanks for the tip - the side by side analysis is very helpful and compelling. Why would you do it any other way?
Excellent video. You effectively demonstrated how to apply the various stains, then showed the contrast between each of them and provided the viewer with the product information they need, should they decide to duplicate what you did, all in under 4 minutes. Extremely impressive. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for watching.
Couldn't have said it better.
I am going with option one for my birch logs because bc I already purchased oil wood stain in a lighter color than what he chose in the video and I want it to be as dark as possible. I also dig the blotched/ cracked look, bite me lol.
If I do more woodwork in the future, I'm definitely going for option 4. Ty!
I'm a bit late. What do I need to buy in the hardwarestore? I want to build a big pc desk an darken the wood. Would appreciate any help 🙏😊
That's what I should have said.
100% agree with this comment. Great video concise and to the point with all the info we need!
Nice to see the different stains side by side. I like to gel stain topped with the toner lacquer too.
Agreed. In addition to being nice and smooth it has a more pleasing colour IMO.
Absolutely excellent. No BS, just easy to understand comparison and easy to follow results. Brilliant! Subscribed immediately! Thank you for making this, incredibly helpful!
This video was 100% helpful to my husband and I! My brother made us birch planters and we learned how to condition the wood and satin it properly from you! The planters are drying and a table also! Thank you for helping us!
this is great info! glad to see someone do a video on this, especially someone as adept at finishing. we use a lot of birch ply in our shop since we have stock approved for our laser cutters, and I've never known how to finish it well. thank you!
Thanks for watching!
Nice, I am planning to get into laser cutting, it helps to know this is possible.
starting my woodworking career at 57yrs. Loved it.
I got cha beat at 64 and I'm a girl.
@@nancyfahey7518 wow congrats
Well haven't started yet. But I have the chair out in the shed and my son showed me where all the stuff is. Stains and paints look pretty old. Spiders are a little too big for my liking. But no rats. My son lives next door if I need something. I'm excited.
Best video for staining birch!
You just saved me some time and money. Thanks!
I have never heard of toner lacquer until I started watching your channel! Wow! I love the deft finish.
Great video with none of the downsides of most UA-cam videos (loud video game type noises or quirky music, no constant coughing or sniffing, and no taking forever to get to any kind of point.)
Great video. I'm actually working on a personal project with lots of Birch Plywwod, and you've answered my questions regarding finishing
Thanks for watching.
Just found you searching how to finnish plywood, building a mid century style record cabinet. The gel stain looks perfect for the project. Although being in the UK, I can't seem to find it.
Have watched through some of your other videos, I love what you do to bring life back into these little gems.
That colored lacquer is where it's at! Thanks for the tip!
Great info. Keep the videos coming.
Thanks for watching.
Great video! I'm about to stain a pair of Baltic birch open baffle speakers and will use this method. Thank you!
We are soo happy your voice is NOT robotic.
time well spent on this vid. instead of a self intro like others that go for 5 mins then the video starts
Terrific test! Thank you.
I use to be an R&D chemist and I made slight changes to Deft lacquers. Did whole studies on small various aspects. Can't say what, but it took months to get approved. I later made a precat lacquer in a spray can also. Those were good times.
Truly appreciate you making his buddy.
With this newly acquired knowledge my project is a motorcycle fairing because its a wild idea I've never seen done , I have sheets of walnut veneer and considering different finishes, great vid.
Who in the world would dislike this video???
Man, thanks for the info. Very helpful. :))
I'm pretty sure the 6 people work for a competing tape company and don't like him using the blue tape. LOL!
Thanks for the info and the effort.
Great video.
At the end, it's all a matter of preference. For me, the best looking one was the second one, but is good to have the knowledge, that you shared with us, to get different results for different applications.
Thank you! You're really giving me the confidence to get started on some of my projects that I've been accumulating 😀
Go for it! I finally stripped the top of a very expensive night stand. I'm about to put the final top coat on. If it comes out like I think it will, my wife will let me do hers. Mine was in worse shape after something hot pulled the color right off the top. I couldn't make it look worse I figured!
Great video which will be the reason my desk will turn out amazing!
Thanks for a very well done and informative video. I am making something right now using baltic birch plywood so this came at just the right moment in time. All I have to do is round up the stuff you used.
Very informative. Thanks for this!
Thanks for watching!
This is what i was searching since an hour !
Great video. Thanks for this!
A coat of thinned shellac works very well also. Use denatured alchohol to thin it down, or you can buy the canned stuff that Zinnser makes called "seal coat" if you don't want to hassle with that.
This was just the info I was looking for! Your videos are the best!!
Wow, this is the most that this has ever made sense to me. I've asked in hardware stores before, but never got such a clear explanation. Thanks!!
This is EXACTLY what I was looking for. Thank you! I have a birch gun stock I'm trying to finish and want to get the best results. You made my choices much easier. Thanks for the excellent video!!
This is a very helpful video! It's hard to know the difference between all the wood staining products as a beginner.
I should have known you'd have a helpful video!! Looking to refinish some birch chairs to match a walnut set. ;)
Nicely done. I deal with staining plywood all the time. Achieving a rich, grain-popping result isn't easy. Too much sanding, with any grit, is bad. Wrong grit bad. Pushing too hard or over-wiping to remove excess stain is bad. Makes the surface dull and even blurry looking. Definitely going to try the Behlen.
I've always preferred danish oil on my Birch Ply (or any Plywood type/grade really) and then just a simple satin poly.
However, as of late, I've been making heavier traffic pieces. So, I've done the Danish oil, then after wiping, I'd let it rest 24hrs. Then the next day (or later) I would apply a schmear of thinned out epoxy (1:1 epoxy then add a 10% Denatured alcohol to the mix. You can also use 99% Isopropyl alcohol as well). I actually squeegee the epoxy across the oiled surface so that it puts a super thin coat on it.
Then, the next day I do that epoxy schmear one more time. Once that cures, I do a very fine, 800g dry sanding just to get the glossy epoxy to turn into a satin appearance.
It might sound like a lot of work, but in the end it makes it nearly bombproof, and it provides a beautiful and well blended finish.
I've tried this with other oils and even the gel stain you used, but it doesn't seem to allow the epoxy to grip on the surface well.
Great videos for DIY
I’d love to know what the 8 thumbs down were for, you don’t have 8 irrational exes out for revenge do you?
A very good and extremely useful video, I certainly agree the last test looked best. Thank you.
gotta be the RIP on the tote lid after staining lol
Have you thought about using a sanding sealer from Deft? Deft sells spray cans and gallon cans. I think it would really help the visuals in your video with the light reflecting across the surface. I have a video on using two coats of sanding sealer, and then one coat of the satin lacquer coat. One coat of sanding sealer, and a delicate sanding with and sponge sanding pad from Sherwin Williams, will help the finish look better before applying the Satin Clear Lacquer. On my last stain and finish job, I used two coats of sanding sealer, sanding lightly after the first coat, to not get into the stain layer, and a little heavier sanding to make the clear sanding sealer smooth, and then apply the stain clear lacquer. It really helps take the cabinets from an average finish to a wow finish! I got pretty lucky in my video. I had the camera set up just right to show my reflection in the large flat drawer front while using a Graco Nova 395PC HVLP airless sprayer.
Great video. Thank you!!
Very good instructions. Thanks!
PERFECT, direct and easy to undersand
Very good video. Saving people money and time.
I had success mixing stain and varnish. I varnished first mixed with thinners. Then applied the mixed varnish and stain with some thinners added.
I followed your instructions except I used prestain and 2 coats of gel stain before the lacquer toner. It looks much better than it would have if I had not seen this video.
Great video! Behlan is now Mohawk and the product is now called M101-0209.
Thank you for sharing experiment.
Thank you for this breakdown
What about something like minwax polystain? It has the polyurethane built into it right? Would that give the same effect as the last section?
thanks
Hi, could you please write the name and brand of the products in the description?
I live abroad and the products I find around me are a total mistery to me. 😖
Try Mohawk..
Thanks a lot. I made the same mistake and now i can do better! Will try it so soon.
Try hand sanding with 180 with the grain, then raise the grain with a damp rag water or denatured alcohol. Sand again with 180. Works for me.
I can't seem to find the H.Behlen brand of toner in my area. I did find that Klingspor's has a brand called Mohawk but the numbering is different. Can you give me any advice on what I can buy in place of the one you list in your video? Thanks for any help. I want to achieve the same coloration as you did in the last segment of your example.
Very cool. Thank you!
I use birch plywood for kid's projects,
I use a sponge and soak it in water then squeeze most of the water out, then I
pass it over the wood. Supposedly, the wood its thirsty for moisture and won't
robe the moisture from the paint.
Love your videos! In the past I’ve tried to refinish furniture without success, that was 20 years ago. UA-cam has made it easier to learn how I’m excited to get started. Any tips?
My first tip would be to practice on something that you're not afraid to mess up. Also, be patient. My first refinish was on a table I found in an alley. It took me forever to complete and didn't come out so well but I learned a lot in the process.
Thanks for watching!
Great video
thank you so much for this!
cool vid short simple and to the point. Nice examples
My best approach is seal the wood first with shellac, then spray alcohol base dye color of your choice (hvlp), seal again, then clear top
Great video! Starting a birch desktop project this week.
Thanks for the video! Quick, educational, to the point with great results. Love that! Now I will go use my gel stain on my Luan Birch plywood. Hope it comes out that nice. OH do you need to apply that toner stuff immediately or can I do it after it dries? Don't have that here on hand today but plan on getting some now.
Thanks , that a lot of help.,and understand.
Great video! Perfect explaination and demonstration! Thank you!
Thanks for watching!
Great videos! Enjoy them very much.
Thanks
About to go to home depot, thanks for this
Very helpful. Thank you.
Thank you for making this video, it helps me a lot!!!!!!
Thank you! Good to know!!
I am happy because Now I understand what you always meant by 'locking blotching'. Ha ha! thanks most interesting !
I would have liked to have seen the 2nd panel gone over with the toner lacquer too. It might have ended up the best.
Great video
I have to do the same thing and probably would of gone with the first one you did, now I have to figure which way to continue 🤔
thanks for the video, very helpful.. never even heard of toner stain..
Gel stain or pre stain are not available in the UK for some strange reason, aside from importing at great expense is there another pre treatment method that can be used?
thanks for taking the time to do this,say i wanted to build a speaker box for my car with birch,and stain it,first off i would have to choose a color that would go good in a car,so black,or something really deep red or blue,then were going to have lots of countersunk screws,so if i want to go with a stained enclosure would a filler that covers screws show up with these finnishes i speak of ? and im sure theres a lot of guys out there wondering the same thing,thanks if you can help.i dont get notifications so i will check back on here
Thank you. Great vid! Saved me time and money :).
Going for option 4 for my guitar pedalboard thank you!!!
Cracking video - thanks!!
Good Info thanks!
Super helpful. Great video
Very valuable info. Thanks!
Nice. Agree with your conclusions. Coincidentally I use those same products. Guess you have a Rockler, an Ace, a Lowes, and a Home Depot near you as well. Funny how you have to run around to collect the products you want to use.
Awesome tips thank you
Thank you!
Really well done video! Thank you
THAT was useful! thx!
Somehow my wife and I prefer the first one out of all the others 🤣😅
Same!😆🙃
Excellent
Very helpful! Thanks!
very helpful!!! Thank you for sharing indeed :)
I've had good luck with baltic birch, using dye stain. More color without conditioner, less likely to blotch...
My whole kitchen is birch plywood. I would like to stain the cabinets darker (they are a medium orangey yellowy oaky color right now). I have yet to determine which type of finish is on them (the house was built in 1968). Would you have any recommendations on how to go about darkening them? I was thinking of trying an Old Masters Gel Stain. I am also hoping to add a 1/4” thick Shaker style trim to the sides to dress them up, but am worried about matching new plywood to the older plywood, then staining them both dark. Anyone have any suggestions?
Gel stain is a great choice for this, IF you can get it to bond well. You have to get the surface really clean, and matt/matte to give a new finish a good chance of adhering with sufficient strength. So you're in for a lot of cleaning (surface shouldn't be the least bit greasy, can't emphasise this enough) and then scuffing before you begin the colouring process. Also, it's always advisable to test for adhesion in an inconspicuous spot as there's a chance it won't bond well enough.
If you think the kitchen is contemporary with the house then the ply is very likely finished in lacquer as this was the most common finish in the second half of the 20th century (still used too, although lots of competition). This is assuming it hasn't been refinished since of course, and given it's been 50 years there's a decent chance of this. If it is still finished in lacquer new lacquer is capable of melding to old because it remains soluble in the original solvent(s), same as with shellac. So lacquer is an option too, but again the surface must be thoroughly cleaned first. And you'd be looking at spraying because you can't really apply lacquer to large surfaces in any other way, so you'd be looking at buying or renting an HVLP setup (that's an HVLP gun + appropriate compressor).
The plywood matching will require some experimentation, first stain with something that mimics the existing colour and then (after thorough drying of the stain) using the gel stain on top.
@@DG-zl6ml Thanks for the detailed reply! I figured I would have to clean the cupboards with Krud Kutter and TSP. I was also thinking that the finish might be lacquer as we are only the second owners of the house and the first owners didn’t do any remodeling after they built it. I wonder if I used a lacquer toner if it would work? Anyway, I would like another option besides just painting everything white. lol! And, yeah, spraying would be a good option if I used lacquer or if I end up painting because there are just SO many cupboards! I will keep working on a solution because they really need some help. Thanks again for your lengthy reply!
Thanks!
I just lightly spray a light coat of the stain over the wiped on stain with a conditioner under it to even the color out . No need for a separate toner.
I don't think they had gel stain back in the sixties. That's very nice stuff. I'm retired and thinking of going back to work for my sanity. I can't really find something without investing way too much time (flipping houses) and so much money and stress. Redoing furniture appears to be right up my ally. I'll practice on my own stuff that's falling apart then maybe do furniture repair. We've got all the tools just sitting there.
Most excellent!
I have never used the toner lacquer before - now I will! 4 Coats? Thanks for the tip - the side by side analysis is very helpful and compelling. Why would you do it any other way?