: I used a dark walnut "water based" of
: course and got a consistant stain. After expoxy, 3 coats, the sanding
: begins. I did come up with a few spots on the deck throught the epoxy to
: wood giving the light color back. This has happened befor, so now to match
: the light spot w/ the stain. It seem the sanding w/ 220 gr. after the
: stain gets the wood so fine that the stain does not run deep. Should I go
: back and use a rougher grain? Any ideas?

You have me a bit perplexed, too.

First, there are a gazillion different water-based woodstains, (including those made from coffee and tea) so can you give us some additional info on the brand, etc. you used.

As I understand this, you put on three coats of epoxy, but did you also put on some glass cloth? or was it just three coats of epoxy?

I follow this, you then sanded through the epoxy coating, and got down to the wood in a few areas, giving you lighter spots. If so, you probably managed to go through a bit of the stained wood, too. If you now want to go back over it with a water-based stain I think the stain will just bead up. the epoxy will have sealed the wood pores and that will keep the wood from absorbing any water.

That epoxy saturates fairly deeply. if yo want to sand enough to get down to wood that has NOT been saturated with epoxy, then you'll face the prospect of sanding right through the outer veneer of the plywood.

Sanding (unepoxyed wood) with 220 grit after staining, if done gently (you may need to do it by hand, not with a power sander) should just knock down some of the raised grain on the wood, and leave you with an even, stained, finish.

But some woods when treated with some stains just have problems. This is where you do tests on small scraps before committing to doing a large area. Sometimes the stain takes a long time to penetrate into the wood, and you need to go over it with several coats. Sometimes you have to stain, sand, stain again, and sand again. And sometimes it just doesn't work right, so you go to the store and buy another brand of stain, and hope that works better.

When you get to a total dead end, just forget about it. You may have some blotches that appear noticeable to you, but the varnish and epoxy will yellow and darken a bit over time, concealing things -- and the wood itself may change color with exposure to light, so your lighter areas will eventually be camoflauged and no one but you will now they are there.

These minor color differences have never affected the handling characteristics of a boat yet. If the color is truly awful, paint it.

Hope this helps

PGJ