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I use leather dyes, and have Fiebings, Angelus and Lincoln. I also mix colors myself from the dyes I have and thin with alcohol for some stains. Usually I'll stain after sanding with 800 and check to see if there are spots I need to resand. If there are, I'll sand again with 800 then reapply the stain.

David

Unless a pipe comes out perfectly flawless from 220 grit where the shape is fine tuned, and I've decided it can still be made smooth, I always lay down a dark stain after 220, 360, and 500. This gives the grain enough contrast to make pinpricks completely unnoticeable. It also aids me in sanding - there's no guesswork about where I need to sand more.

Also use Fiebings almost exclusively. Once in a while I might find something else, but by and large I use Leather dyes.

Kurt et al, if I may add a querry here. . . . A couple months ago, Ronny posted a pretty good how-to on contrast staining; he mentioned that, for the primary stain he does use a good alcohol-based dye, but for the light contrast stain, he uses an oil-base stain to keep it from being affected by the first color, which seems to make a lot of sense. So what's a good source for an oil-base stain? Stores here in Vermont only seem to carry the MinWax brand name stuff, which is great for a Q&D bookcase, but not so good for pipes.

John,

It is easy enough to make your own.

http://extension.usu.edu/files/publicat ... /HI_27.pdf

Although, for pipes I use the Feibings and have not tried these.

To be honest, I've never used an oil based stain on pipes. I always use the Feibings. The key is to be sure the dark stain is completely dry before putting on your overstain. Also, if you add the understain *before* sanding your final grit, you don't really need to worry too much about it mixing with the topstain or shellac and getting muddy.

In response to where to get an oil based stain, try Mohawk's 545 line wiping wood stains (but don't use the 530 wood tone wiping stains, as they contain resins as well as colors) . They don't penetrate briar, but work very well for contrast staining. Like mentioned above, they will not rewet the alcohol stain (you can try Mohawk's alcohol stains: 520 line Ultra Penetrating Stains or the aniline powders (362 line) to make your own, as well). To find a distributor near you check out:

http://mohawkfinishing.com/dist_lookup.asp

I must state that I work for Mohawk in all fairness, but in R&D, not sales.

I use our Ultra Penetrating Stains for all my pipes, except all those I leave natural, and on my blasts or rusticates I do the contrast with the Wiping Stains. I sometimes use the WS over the UPS to develop a deeper or richer color (for example I often use the yellow UPS then go over it with a lighter brown WS, the yellow really highlights the grain).

Hope this helps,
Aaron

I thank you all. (Aaron, I should have remembered your post of some months ago, but that's what happens to old people, I guess. Partly the fault of the computer, however; you fall into the habit of letting the PC remember things for you . . . and then forget what you were trusting to the computer's superior memory.) Appreciate your help.