Staining Reflection

Staining with polyurethane turned out to be a much different experience compared to simply painting one's room or using compressed air to paint small objects. It required a lot of patience and precision, especially with the legs and stringers as they are very thin and the stain should not go near the edges to prevent dripping. As all of the objects painted during the first coat session had four sides that needed to be stained, two saw-horses were set up to keep the surfaces touching to a minimum. I put a layer on the top side, then I would rotate the piece to the right and finish the next side for each to keep a consistent pattern. To dry without any errors, such as marks from a surface touching the fresh areas, there needed to be about a 2 hour interval between painting the first two sides, and the last two sides of each piece. So, of course, we went to lunch then finished up in the afternoon. After finishing each piece of wood, they need to be sanded to rid of any extra dust or drips. The plan for our next session is exactly that; sand, stain the second coat, and hope for the best.