# Problem matching colors between woods.



## MAFoElffen (Jun 8, 2012)

I've been working on some cabinets, 16 boxes. All was from reclaimed wood. Some was 2d growth red oak that was rough-cut by a friend, some was old growth red oak that I reclaimed from a job... and a corner cabinet that is a brilliant bird's eye maple (reclaimed).

My stain color that seemed to look best for the grain in the red oak and look consistent color between was a 1:3 mix of mixwax early american and pecan. (oak medium brown with a red tinge).

Now my frustration. I can't seem to match that same color (or close) on the maple. I fell in love with the beautiful grain that is similar to the oak I have with some burling and the bird's eyes. 

Anyone have any tips on staining maple non-traditional colors to mimic other woods?

Edit-- I've already matched the color on the Island's Pine/Poplar counter top to the oak... My girlfriend likes woodgrain as much as I. Just not on the maple= last piece of the puzzle.


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## Jofuss 55 (Oct 17, 2011)

Mike,
A stain will hide the bird's eye pattern ,what you want is a dye. I'd recommend Transtint. All your favorite wood finishing specialty stores will have it. You can mix it with water or alcohol and you can mix colors. Then you need a clear coat, I recommend a water based poly acrylic .
Good luck.


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## thammons (Mar 26, 2012)

At risk of erring, I'd like to add a related but not on-target question. How can a person figure out what different woods go together and what can you do with, for example, stain or dye to help various combinations of woods go together? My current example of this question is a small chest of drawers that I want to make the structural parts from Baltic birch, and I'd like to use perhaps maple or cherry for some non-plywood elements. But I don't know what will work, though I guess I could just try something and see what happens.
th


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

Terry; the fly in the ointment is 'red'. It'll fight with a lot of other colours, especially browns. Try and get a sample fan of stain colours and just play with it. If a combination of two or more shades don't sing to you then chances are they're just not compatible.
Way faster and cheaper than staining a project then deciding you hate it...
Finisher's Colorwheel™ - Mohawk Finishing


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## bcfunburst (Jan 14, 2012)

*Stain Matching*



MAFoElffen said:


> I've been working on some cabinets, 16 boxes. All was from reclaimed wood. Some was 2d growth red oak that was rough-cut by a friend, some was old growth red oak that I reclaimed from a job... and a corner cabinet that is a brilliant bird's eye maple (reclaimed).
> 
> My stain color that seemed to look best for the grain in the red oak and look consistent color between was a 1:3 mix of mixwax early american and pecan. (oak medium brown with a red tinge).
> 
> ...


Sounds like a fantastic project. Love to see pics of your end results! I have most often had great success using a product called "Wood Conditioner" prior to staining. It always results in an even color spread and allows even staining on every kind of hardwood on which I've used it. I think you'd be wise to try your colors on several different sample pieces first and see if you can match the color on all your hardwoods. I try to record the blend ratios as I mix them, keeping the one that works best. Hope this is a help to you in some way.


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## MAFoElffen (Jun 8, 2012)

bcfunburst said:


> Sounds like a fantastic project. Love to see pics of your end results! I have most often had great success using a product called "Wood Conditioner" prior to staining. It always results in an even color spread and allows even staining on every kind of hardwood on which I've used it. I think you'd be wise to try your colors on several different sample pieces first and see if you can match the color on all your hardwoods. I try to record the blend ratios as I mix them, keeping the one that works best. Hope this is a help to you in some way.


Thanks all. 

<Jofuss 55- Joe> Never thought of using a dye instead on a stain. Great idea!!! There's a Rockler about 70 miles from here. Gives me an excuse- hehehe

<thammons- > For your project, you know there is other species of veneered plywoods besides pine, fir and birch right? Why not a maple veneered plywood? I've made some "really" nice cabinets and vanities with that. You could go with banding or I cut my own banding for something like that.

With me, I get this picture in my head of what I want. Then in that picture, whether I want things to go together or be complimentary... or how they contrast. I usually look at grain. Then last is the stain factor. *** I would be willing to help (a group such as "us") to put together a list or chart on woods and their stain-ability rating. Such as: pine > poplar > oak > maple... etc. Yes, I have some hardwoods that don't need any treatment before outdoor use. With that, they don't stain well at all. So then if you have different woods that are far from each other in how they take stain, then you have one stain, stain both with that and they then look @#$%^&* different! So you have to adjust your color.

<DaninVan- Dan> The fly in the ointment seems to be how the stain soaks into each wood. The maple seems to be resistant to the reds, but the medium brown ends up as a dark brown. Very frustrating, even with...

<bcfunburst- Reg> Thanks. I have and use Benite and Cabot wood conditioners. My prefrence is for Benite, which I've been using for over 20 years. I used it on both the oak and the maple. Besides the qualities you mentioned, as the master carpenter who took me through the ranks explained to me, it soaks in, seals, then changes the molecular qualities of the wood, hardening it, making it more durable. Afterwards, you also end up having to use less stain.

Yes, the desired color is "different," but what my girlfriend liked and was set on when the old growth first got stained and revealed. 

Yes, it's quite a fantastic project for "home" and scrimping. My past injuries caught up with me and I haven't been able to formally work for the last 3 years. Lot's of odd jobs to keep afloat. So this one is personal and on reclamation. I was taking a huge couch to the dump and tore it down to get it into the pickup. The frame was all 5/4 birds eye maple!!! My girl friend saw it and wanted it included into our kitchen.

Pictures? Sure. I have 4 doors, 2 drawer fronts, face and the countertop on the lowers left and then that project is done. Timeline- money and injuries are dictating that. But when I finish I'll gladly post/share pictures.

EDIT-- All these years and I don't think I've ever tried to stain maple other than a light color, if any stain at all. I was starting to feel like a newbie on this one...


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## john880 (Aug 18, 2010)

Mike,
When you buy,,,oh say several pieces of oak from a vendor. There is no guarantee that it came from the same forest much less the same tree. The problem that you state has been around for many years, and the solution is a, "shellac Wash Coat". Now shellac comes when you buy it in a liquid in what is called a 3# mix. That is 3# of shellac per gallon of denatured alchol, which alcohol is its base. So if you would dilute that factory mix to a 1 1/2# mix. By adding the same amount of alcohol to the same amount of factory mix and mix into the same container. Shellac comes in shades from blond to clear. You pick the hue you like on a test piece. and is a dream to apply and very fast drying. By taking this mix that you just made and pre-coating your oak this seals the wood, and then when you stain, the stain lays on top of the shellac not penetrating into the wood itself. thus it ac ks as a top coating. Still a sealing harder coat of what ever is you choice, needs to be aplied over your stain. Check out, Wood Wash coat, there is a lot of imfo. out there.


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## MAFoElffen (Jun 8, 2012)

Thanks John. That might also work and I already have all those "ingredients" here. I'll have to play with that tomorrow.

You said for oak... Looks like for Maple the shellac to thinner ratio is anywhere from 1:4 (25%) to 1:10 (5%). Based on how hard the maple is? 

They say light sand after washcoat/before stain. 220?

EDIT-- After I posted this and looking at the "purpose" of washcoating, I had something nagging at me. How is a washcoat any different that using a wood conditioner or endgrain sealer?


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