I talked to Larry at RAKA about stain and epoxy compatibility. According to him , there should be no problem as long as I use a water based stain. I tried a Min Wax water based stain on a piece of scrap and it looks pretty good. The only problem is that it raised the grain quite a bit. My question is - is the raised grain a problem? Since it is going to be epoxied and glassed, I would think that smoothness of the base wood shouldn't be that important. You could even make a case that the rougher surface would be better for adherence of the epoxy. I know that some of you have dealt with this before, so I would really value some recommendations based on experience.

Thanks,

Bill H.