Staining Steering Wheel

[michael2938 24]

Ok, so I've just completed the second round of stripping, painting, "regraining", and staining my rim blow steering wheel and I am still not happy with it. It doesn't look terrible, I just can't seem to find the right coloring.

 

I used a hacksaw blade to get the graining effect and that part seems ok. But I think because the wheel is plastic/gray primer I can't get the staining part right. Has anybody else done this? What did you use, what tips do you have for applying the stain??

 

Thanks,

Mike

[Big Secz 26]

Are you trying to use regular stain or are you using paint?

[MichaelJames 12]

Are you trying to use regular stain or are you using paint?

well I was trying to use a regular stain but maybe that is the problem. Any recommendations on how to get a wood grain look with paint?

[Big Secz 26]

You can't use stain, it's too transparent. It will never cover the primer. You have to use paint, but there are several different techniques for getting faux wood grain. There are tools for it, some use rags, or brushes, but mostly it's done on flat surfaces. I think a brush technique would probably work best on the curved steering wheel surface.

 

 

Then there is this option too:

[nymustang1969 22]

I did my wheel a few years ago. Turned out very good. I did the stain as a two step process. Use a gel stain. Regular stain is to thin and transparent. Do the base coat first. When that is dry I used a darker stain to fill in the grainig marks from the hack saw. I let that coat set up a few minutes and lightly wiped it off so it was only in the grain. Let it dry a few days and I top coated it with a urathane clear so my nice wood grain will last many years.

[miketyler 15]

I did my wheel too and it looks ok but my approach was a little diffferent. I took my best walnut bezel to my paint shop and had them mix two colors, one each of the lightest and darkest wood tone colors in a base coat product.

 

After making the repairs to the wheel I hand grained some of the smooth areas. I then airbrushed the dark tone first then added highlights of the lighter tone. Next, I tinted it with the darker color to add a mid tone and applied it in a few areas.

 

I waited several days for this to cure, then added a wipe-on dark walnut stain that filled the graining. I hand grained a few areas using a dry brush affect. I added the chrome mylar trim, and applied two coats of clear, color sanded, then added two more coats. I think I have about $35 in materials in mine and get lots of compliments on it.

Edited November 12, 2014 by miketyler