Tip of the Month

Staining End Grain

When applying liquid stains, the stain soaks more deeply into the pores of the end grain than the face grain, darkening the ends much more than the faces, see top photo.

One way to even out the stain color is to sand the end grain with a higher-grit sandpaper than the face grain.

In the bottom photo, the face is sanded with 220-grit and the end grain with 600-grit, resulting is a much better color match.