Stain Finishing Miniatures

Hi Miniatures Enthusiasts!


I was recently give a "The House of Miniatures Collectors Series" piece to complete.  There were some excellent instructions for finishing wood furniture.  I wanted to share them with this group.

1. After assembly and the glue has set, lightly sand all joint areas to remove excess glue, use 220 grit sandpaper or finer.
2. Moisten a cloth slightly and rub the dampened cloth over the entire wood surface to raise the grain.
3. When all signs of moisture have gone from the wood, resand using 320 to 300 grit sandpaper.
4. With a small brush, apply a light sealer to cote all the edge and grain ends.  Use the side of the brush rather than the tip, in a wiping motion, so that the sealer does not touch other surfaces.  Note:  Sealing the edge and end grains will prevent the subsequent stain from penetrating these areas as deeply, resulting in a more uniform stain on all parts.
5. Apply the stain of your choice with a  brush or cloth over the entire wood surface.  Immediately wipe off all excess stain leaving an even color on the surface. Allow to dry.
6. Apply a thin coat of wood sealer over the base stain.  Make sure there are no drip marks present. Allow the sealer to dry for at least 6 hours.
7. Lightly go over all surfaces with Grade 000 steel wool until they are smooth to the touch.

Add in these steps for "highlighting" a technique of creating light and dark areas.

1. Apply glaze stain of your choice and then toning by rubbing off the glaze in certain areas. exposing the base stain.
2. In order to "highlight," apply a dark glaze with a brush or rag over the entire piece of furniture.  As soon as you have applied this glaze, wipe of the excess.
3. Blend tones of base color and glaze stain by using a piece of soft cloth.  There should never be a sharp line of dark color to light color but rather a smooth blending effect.
4. After the glaze stain has dried for 24 hours, thoroughly and briskly wipe all surfaces with a clean cloth.

Final Finish

1. Apply a coat of lacquer or varnish, with a  brush.
2. Apply two or more top coats with light buffing between coats using Grade 000 steel wool.
3. After each steel wool rubbing make sure all steel wool "dust" is removed.

Lucky for me the piece was already stained by the previous owner and all I have to do is finish the assembly.  I am super impressed by how nice this stain job looks.  The steps are intensive.