Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Just getting alot of information ahead of time before I hopefully can start work on my first build. Really like the look of the woodies . What do most of you guys do? Will be using baltic birch plywood for the sides and roof. would just applying a good polyurethane bring out the natural color of the plywood or first applying a stain then polyurethane be the best way to go. Plus what color stain would be the most popular choice?

I am using the below Minwax golden oak stain on my birch plywood for the woodie I am building. I haven't put it on yet so I can't really speak for how it looks but I went with the lighter stain for the birch, which will be the hatch, roof, and front. I'm using the Minwax Red Oak for the oak outer side walls. Then I'm going to epoxy it and use polyurethane as the UV protector.

I used NO stain on mine. Roof, front & back are oak. Sides are Cherry on top of birch. Trim is mahogany.

I was also under the assumption that you should only use an alkaline dye under epoxy as a oil or latex stain will not allow the epoxy to bond to the wood. I decided to not use dye after testing out the epoxy on test pieces.

Thanks DudKC might just go with the minwax stain and polyurethane like you are . Looks you are on a good start on your build, keep us updated on your progress. If and when I get started I plan on posting my progress as it goes. Thanks everybody for the fantastic amount of info on this great forum.

http://www.westsystem.com/ss/epoxy-adhesion-over-stains/

Thanks for the tip! Looks like the Minwax is out, I like the natural look of your TD, pizzaguy, but I've always been a fan of stained woods. According to that experiment by West System I could go with a water base, gel based, or another brand of oil based.

Pizzaguy wrote:I used NO stain on mine. Roof, front & back are oak. Sides are Cherry on top of birch. Trim is mahogany.

I was also under the assumption that you should only use an alkaline dye under epoxy as a oil or latex stain will not allow the epoxy to bond to the wood. I decided to not use dye after testing out the epoxy on test pieces.

That is nice!

My tongue box was built from red cedar. I used TransTint dye to darken the wood to give it a little character and make it look like it was aged.

I waited about a month after dying the wood and then applied 3 coats of epoxy. About a month later, I applied 3 coats of Emtech EM9300 urethane.

I love that box, I just know I'll be disapointed if I ever see a pic it open, It just looks like it should be full of antiques, or pirate's treasure...

aggie79 wrote:

I think it is really a matter of personal taste and the look you are after. I wanted something that would blend in with a pine forest. There are so many options and so many different styles, you just have to find something that you like. Don't forget to check out the gallery. You will get lots of ideas.

...whatever y'all do, keep in mind, epoxy doesn't play well over oil based stains but does pretty well over water based stains and aniline dyes.................
madjack

I used Minwax "Gunstock" Stain mostly throughout and and the sides are Maple plywood, and glossed up with three coats of Helmsman Spar Urethane.

(The light colored trim is a decal I made from kitchen cabinet shelf liner, which looks great )

aggie79 wrote:My tongue box was built from red cedar. I used TransTint dye to darken the wood to give it a little character and make it look like it was aged.

I waited about a month after dying the wood and then applied 3 coats of epoxy. About a month later, I applied 3 coats of Emtech EM9300 urethane.

I agree, that is one awesome looking tongue box. Did you wait 3 months to let the dye soak in or was that just how your project schedule worked out? I am probably going to get the sides stained with the water based aniline dye this week. How long should I wait before I do the epoxy?

I have done a fair amount of woodworking and cabinet building and used a lot of birch plywood. I can state, with some authority, that birch plywood is generally regarded as a paint quality material. It does not stain well unless a conditioner is used first. The grain patterns can cause blotching. If the conditioner is not used, then the wood should be clear coated in it's natural state

DudKC,

The 3-month delay was due to my slow work progress. Once the water (or alcohol) evaporates you're good to go with epoxy.

Take care,
Tom

aggie79 wrote:Once the water (or alcohol) evaporates you're good to go with epoxy.

Are you talking about the box or you Tom???