Walnut color matching question?

[Shamrock]

Hey folks,

I've got 2 commission walnut side tables I'm finishing up and was wondering if you could help me with some staining/color matching.

Here's the bases:

View image in gallery​

Here's the 2 tops:

View image in gallery​

View image in gallery​

You can see that the one top is almost all heartwood and the other is almost all sapwood. What product would you recommend to even the color out for the 2.

I'm thinking of spraying Target Coatings water based Emtech EM6000 Lacquer so whatever stain I use will have to work with the water based topcoat.

Thanks in advance for any ideas.

Mike

 

[PeteM]

What product would you recommend to even the color out for the 2.

I'm thinking paint would work pretty well !!! :slap:

Seriously, with that much color difference I'd probably get some A B bleach and take the color out of both tops and then apply whatever stain or dye you like to both.

pete

 

[pboro]

Nice looking tables!

What has worked for me is to mute the light color with water based dye. Lockwood's (powder) & Transtint are my favs. I've tried alcohol based NGR (Non Grain Raising)- more trouble than its worth as it dries so fast- great for spray applications though. two techniques:

1. Apply dye with a small brush or rag to the sapwood- just get to the edge of darker wood. You'll probably get some in the heartwood- just wipe it w/ a clean paper towel or such.
or
2. Apply water to the heartwood- then apply the dye as above. The water dilutes whatever dye gets on the darker wood.

If you get some dye on the heartwood & I always do, it ends up looking fine as there are so many natural color/tone variations in wood.

As you know, water raises the grain, so before the dye, when you're sanding, wet the wood before the last grit. It's not a big deal IMHO- after the dye, sand the sealer coat (for me is always shellac).
I practice on scrap to get the correct color.

 

[Joe Scharle]

Bob, which Transtint do you use on walnut? I've used brown, but it could be improved, if you know what I mean.

BTW, the tip about painting the 'good' edge with water is worth repeating as it keeps a line from forming.

 

[pboro]

About which Transtint color- I start with a base, normally Dark Walnut. Others that might I've used (too lazy to get more) are: Dark Mission Brown (has a bit of yellow in it which can be negated with purple) or Brown Mahogany (normally its orange needs to be cooled down with blue ).

 

[cyclopentadiene]

Have no clue on color match, just wanted to say nice work.

 

[victoon]

can't help with the color matching. but want to mention that different color seems more interesting.

great work!