Vol.2 No.5
June 2003

Staining Wood End Grain

By Julian Biggers

Q. When staining a piece of wood how do you keep the end grain from being darker than the rest of the piece?

A. There are two popular methods to reduce the end grain problem. First, coat the end grain with a sealer of thin shellac before staining. This prevents the end grain from absorbing more than its share of stain. Thin shellac one part shellac to two parts alcohol. Try on a piece of scrape wood first.

Second, cut a thin piece of wood and glue over the end grain. Sand down to veneer thickness before staining. This is the commercial way of handling the end grain problem.