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Staining English Walnut?

Woodbloke

Woodbloke

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I'm under way with another major project in the 'shop but realised I needed to cut a new top and bottom:

IMG_8542.jpeg

As you can see, there's a distinct colour mis-match between the two boards and I eventually need to make the lighter one the same (or as near as damn it) colour as the other one. My question is what stain to use and how to apply, bearing in mind that this is completely new territory for me. TIA - Rob
 
PAC1 said:
I have used General Finishes stain https://bruach.com/shop/general-fin...er-based-interior/general-finishes-wood-stain
The trick to applying it is to do as they suggest and put it on quite heavy then wipe off the excess. Then it works well. If you just brush on the minimum it is very uneven.
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Thanks for that. The finishes above are water based, which seems preferable over spirit. I was thinking of this Liberon product from Axminster and assume that further applied coats will deepen the colour? I have several off cuts from the board to play around with and have plenty of time as the cabinet is nowhere near gluing yet.

The eventual finish going over the top will be Odie's Oil and wax - Rob
 
You definitely need to experiment. The first one I did I carefully brushed it on. What a mess. I had to sand down a well sanded table and start again. If you go with General finishes watch their video.
 
Custard, whom you will remember from another forum, used Mylands analine water based dye, D294 and gave me some, in powder form. I tried it out when I made my little walnut side table but decided not to use it. Now, several years later, the side towards the window is much paler than the rest. If I'd used the dye, I think it would still match.

If you don't need gallons, you're welcome to the powder I have left. I can't see any stains in powder form on the Mylands website.
 
For me personally, i use a lot of American black walnut, i use Vandyke crystals. Its actually made from crushed walnut shells. So it has the actual color tones of walnut instead of artificial pigment trying to match. Plus you just thin it with water as light or dark as you want it. So you can make it thin and add coats until its the color you want
 
AndyT said:
Custard, whom you will remember from another forum, used Mylands analine water based dye, D294 and gave me some, in powder form. I tried it out when I made my little walnut side table but decided not to use it. Now, several years later, the side towards the window is much paler than the rest. If I'd used the dye, I think it would still match.

If you don't need gallons, you're welcome to the powder I have left. I can't see any stains in powder form on the Mylands website.
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That's great, I'd love to try it out...remember you have a wee envelope in the post; would it be possible to enclose the dye in the return package? I'd need enough dye for two of those light boards shown in the pic above and instructions for mixing/use if possible please - Rob
 
AndyT said:
... that's what I was thinking 🙂
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Great minds think etc etc....:ROFLMAO: Custard's stuff sounds like it's also Vandyke crystals or maybe something different?... can't seem to find a reference to it online which is odd - Rob

Edit - just saw your note to the effect that stains in powder form aren't on the Milan's website
 
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It's over ten years ago, and I don't have any written notes, but I think the reason Custard preferred the Mylands dye was that it had better resistance to fading in daylight than vandyke crystals.
 
AndyT said:
It's over ten years ago, and I don't have any written notes, but I think the reason Custard preferred the Mylands dye was that it had better resistance to fading in daylight than vandyke crystals.
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Makes sense as walnut wood itself will lightren with age and sunlight exposure. So if you do use an artificial stain you probably want to use it on everything. Otherwise the unstained parts would fade faster.
 
SteveMP said:
Makes sense as walnut wood itself will lightren with age and sunlight exposure. So if you do use an artificial stain you probably want to use it on everything. Otherwise the unstained parts would fade faster.
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Yes, I should have made that clearer.
 
SteveMP said:
Makes sense as walnut wood itself will lightren with age and sunlight exposure. So if you do use an artificial stain you probably want to use it on everything. Otherwise the unstained parts would fade faster.
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I keep the curtains drawn with any room that's got walnut furniture in it; that sunlight is nasty stuff and I could do with a lot less of it! There's a very, very pleasant Grade 1 house near Salisbury; tours can be booked through the National Gallery and it's stuffed full of beautiful stuff, inc a first edition copy of Chippendale's 'The Gentleman and Cabinet Makers Director' which I unfortunately wasn't able to handle.

However, I digress. On the tour, you visit one of upstairs rooms which has a complete glass roof and it's full of beautiful walnut furniture, all of which over the centuries has been bleached to a very pale hue so that you wouldn't even recognise it as walnut.

I pointed this out to our guide who just said "yes I know, shame isn't it?" or words to that effect.

If you ever want to see a beautiful house slightly off the beaten track, it's thoroughly recommended...nice tea shop as I recollect as well! - Rob
 
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Woodbloke said:
I keep the curtains drawn with any room that's got walnut furniture in it; that sunlight is nasty stuff and I could do with a lot less of it! There's a very, very pleasant Grade 1 house near Salisbury; tours can be booked through the National Gallery and it's stuffed full of beautiful stuff, inc a first edition copy of Chippendale's 'The Gentleman and Cabinet Makers Director' which I unfortunately wasn't able to handle.

However, I digress. On the tour, you visit one of upstairs rooms which has a complete glass roof and it's full of beautiful walnut furniture, all of which over the centuries has been bleached to a very pale hue so that you wouldn't even recognise it as walnut.

I pointed this out to our guide who just said "yes I know, shame isn't it?" or words to that effect.

If you ever want to see a beautiful house slightly off the beaten track, it's thoroughly recommended...nice tea shop as I recollect as well! - Rob
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Sounds like an interesting place!

I have also seen old antiques made from a mix of walnut and cherry where the walnut has lightened and the cherry has darkened to a 180 where the cherry is much darker than the walnut now. The maker probably wouldn’t even recognize it.
 
Having had a good old natter with @AndyT on the dog n'bone yesterday, I mixed up a tester pot solution of 'Custard powder' in a small Kilner jar, using 1/4 teaspoon to 2 fluid oz, then mix thoroughly with a lolly stick. The light coloured board is shown below:

IMG_8700.jpeg

...with three offcuts taken from the same board (arrowed). The following pic shows the same light board with one it needs to match (arrowed):

IMG_8701.jpeg

...and after one coat the samples look thus:

IMG_8702.jpeg

...and with two coats it appears that they're slightly darker:

IMG_8703.jpeg

At that strength, I think one coat of Custard's stain is going to do the trick. What say ye? - Rob
 
Looking good...
There's one thing I meant to say (which I am sure you already have in mind) and that's to stain all the boards, so that even if the wood fades in sunlight they'll still all have a level of colour from the stain.

Edit: - already discussed earlier in the thread.
 
AndyT said:
Looking good...
There's one thing I meant to say (which I am sure you already have in mind) and that's to stain all the boards, so that even if the wood fades in sunlight they'll still all have a level of colour from the stain.

Edit: - already discussed earlier in the thread.
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I hadn't done that Andy so will give it a try - Rob
 
One coat on the darker timber and two on the lighter stuff seems to work; very difficult though to get them to precisely match. Fortunately the construction used on this cabinet will be dowels (aka 'Dowelmax' jig) so top and sides can be stained individually prior to gluing. Were shovetails to be used it would be a complete pain in the ariss to colour match the individual end grain of the tails n'pins - Rob
 
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