Woodworking for Engineers

Re:Woodworking for Engineers by giardini on Thursday June 11, 2020 @10:27AM (#23489236)

I've stained wood (USA) for decades and never used a pre-stain conditioner. This is the first I've heard of it. One article says:

"A wood conditioner is basically a wood finish reduced to a very thin consistency."

Sounds like a money-making product to use on very porous wood that has water-damage (rotted?) or has been repeatedly treated with solvents, leaving only weak wood fibers. I usually replace such wood.

There are also products for "rejuvenating" rotted wood:

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=rejuvenate+rotted+wood&t=opera&ia=...

I suppose these have their place but I have been lucky enough to not need them.

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Re:Woodworking for Engineers by robotnixon on Thursday June 11, 2020 @10:46AM (#23489472)

I've used pre-stain conditioner when applying a dark oil-based stain to pine. It does seem to help even out the finish with soft woods. It is pretty useless on harder woods though, and since I don't typically use pine or stain I have maybe used it once or twice.

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Re:Woodworking for Engineers by jmtulloss on Thursday June 11, 2020 @10:38AM (#23489372)

They’re good for woods that are blotchy when stained with the stains normally available in US hardware stores, namely birch and pine.

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