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Having done lots of experiments trying to get a good contrast stain on sandblasted pipes i have been left pretty stumped. I can manage a nice finish that shows off the grain and I am very happy with this but I would really love to get a proper contrast possibly with two colours. Anyone got any ideas?

Chris, I'm not sure exactly what you are trying to accomplish, but if you stain it dark and buff it fairly agressively with tripoli all the ridges will come out much lighter in color. Is that the sort of effect you are after?

No I am after something like Adam Davidson's buck skin finish.

You can do one of the two: 1. Do a second blast at a lower pressure and at a severe angle. 2. Soak a rag in alcohol and wash down with the grain (not against the grain).
I've done this, in the past, with decent results.

Try using a very, very light stain and apply it multiple times. There's a fine balance between bringing out the natural variegation and making the entire pipe uniformly darker. The extremely light stains like Feibings light beige and (funnily enough) buckskin are good for this.

Hmmm, I tried the alcohol rag, it kind of worked, maybe i should try again, if you say it works then its likely it was me wrong rather than the method lol.
Must try other light stains. So far my method has been to use fiebings cut with alcohol, i do multiple layers and it does help but the more layers i apply the darker it gets and i dont seem to get much contrast. Sounds like there is no secret magic, damn! lol