Hello, Has anyone ever painted or stained wood to give it a black finish? If so what do you recommend to do this? Is it better to paint or stain? I believe the wood is oak. I am debating whether to try this or just leave the wood as is.

Thanks

I would sand it down a bit just to give it a rough texture for the paint to stick to, and then paint. Remember to sand with 220 grit sandpaper and wipe with a lightly damp sponge between coats.. This stands for stain or paint... But I am BEGGING you not to paint wood! LOL Sorry, personal pet peeve!!!

If you are painting bare wood you will have to prime it first to give the paint something to stick to. Depending on what kind of wood you have you might want to treat any knots first with a sealing compound to stop the bleed through of resins from the wood into the paint.

I have to say though I agree with Nicki-Sue on this one. If the wood looks reasonably good then let it shine. Oak is a gorgeous wood and it would be a shame to paint over it. I love the look of danish oil on oak, but I am not sure how much protection from water spills it will give you, although oak is a hardwood and so this is not as important as it would be if your stand was softwood.

There also many different kinds of waxes that you could use. You could can get these in different colours if you want to darken the wood or change the colour slightly. If you post some pictures of your stand then we might be able to come up with better suggestions.

Hope this helps a little