How to Stain a Dry Tree Slab
A thick-cut cross section of a tree trunk makes a good seat, footstool, tabletop or clock face. Before finishing the tree slab in any way, you must let it dry completely for up to a year. Otherwise, moisture and sap from inside the wood will likely leak out and mar the finish. You can effectively stain a dry tree slab with very little trouble. Choose a stain color from a hardware store or local home improvement center that goes with the surroundings in the area where you will put the finished slab. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Wood filler
- Sandpaper
- Tack cloth
- Plastic drop cloth
- Gloves
- Foam craft brush
- Stain
- Clean rag
- Polyurethane
Instructions
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Apply wood filler to any cracks or holes in the tree slab. Fill the recesses entirely to the level of the tree slab surface. Let the wood filler dry completely.
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2
Sand the tree slab smooth. Fine-grit sandpaper will create a smoother surface, but the smoother surface will not allow as much stain to be absorbed. Therefore, using fine-grit sandpaper results in a lighter stained finish. Conversely, using coarse sandpaper will yield a rougher surface, but the stain will be darker. Remove sanding dust with a tack cloth.
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Spread a plastic drop cloth on your work surface. Place the tree slab on the work surface.
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Dip a foam brush into the stain and apply it to the tree slab. Move the brush in the direction of the grain of the wood. With a tree slab this usually means brushing in a somewhat circular direction. Dip the brush as often as necessary to coat the wood evenly and saturate the grain.
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Let the stained tree slab sit for five to 15 minutes. The more time you let it sit, the darker the stain will be. Hardwoods such as oak absorb stains more slowly than soft woods such as pine. Therefore, let hardwoods sit longer.
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Wipe the stain off the tree slab with a clean rag. Wipe with the wood grain to remove all excess stain that has not been absorbed into the wood. Turn the rag often or use fresh rags to absorb all the excess stain.
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Let the tree slab dry for four to six hours. If it is not as dark as you want, apply a second coat. Do this as many times as you need in order to achieve the shade of stain that you want.
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Let the tree slab dry for at least eight hours after the last coat of stain. If you want to stain the other side of the slab, turn it over and repeat the staining process.
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Tips & Warnings
Apply one or two coats of polyurethane to the stained slab to seal the surface.
Use stain in a well ventilated area.
References
- Photo Credit Stockbyte/Stockbyte/Getty Images
