darkening stain

[Rob]

I've got a small can of Minwax's Dark Walnut, staining red oak. After two coats, it's still not as dark as we want it. What can I mix with it to darken it a little more. It's oil based stain.

 

[Bill Clemmons]

I don't have the answer but you might send Howard Acheson a PM. He's usually the best source for finishing questions. I see he's on right now.

Bill

 

[Tarhead]

Go to the art section at the nearest craft store (Michael's, Hobby Lobby, etc) and grab a tube of Burnt Umber and a tube of Black oil paint. Mix a little of the Burnt Umber in a little stain in a small cup and put it on a sample stick of your stock next to a sample of just the Minwax stain. Then add a tiny bit of black to another small amout of Minwax stain and put it next to the others on the sample. Then do a combo of a bit of black and burnt umber. Choose the one you like and add more or less tint to get it to darken.

 

[Gregory Paolini]

You can custom tint the stain a little darker by using Artisits oil colors - That's one option. Another is by using Japan Colors. A third option is to go to your local paint store, and plead for a little bit of Black Lamp tint - A little goes a long way here. Non fibered roofing tar will do the trick as well - Just add, stir, and sample

But the easiest method would be to just get a little darker stain, and reapply - Minwax Jacobean should be a bit darker than the Dark Walnut.

Just out of curiosity, what was the sanding schedule for your project?

 

[Rob]

I looked for Jacobean, they didn't have it, and minwax doesn't show it on their web site any longer, figured they discontinued it.

Sanding schedule? Not sure I follow. Right now I'm sanding samples to 220 grit and testing colors.

 

[Mike Davis]

Roofing tar? Really?

 

[Rob]

I'm going to try the roofing tar, I'm curious about it.

 

[Gregory Paolini]

Another thing that will darken up the color as well is, to try sanding to 150 grit, and stoping there. This will leave bigger scratches in the wood, allowing for more of the stain's pigments to get trapped in the scratches, and thus add more color (darken it).

As far as the roofing tar goes, it has to be non-fibered. It actually gives a very nice aged oak look.

 

[Mike Davis]

Sorry Greg,

It's just funny because I was telling Rob about the tar in Chat Thursday night.

When I was younger and even poorer tar and MS was all i ever used for stain.

Now that you say it is worth a try he will get it. :rotflm:

 

[Rob]

Not fair Mike, it was Sunday morning you told me, and I haven't had a chance to get any yet. :tinysmile_tongue_t:

 

[Mike Davis]

You are right I forgot about Sunday morning. :embarrassed:

But HD and Lowe's are both open Sunday afternoon. :dontknow:

 

[Rob]

No excuse, I was lazy, I didn't do much Sunday afternoon, cleaned the shop a little.

 

[Mike Davis]

I did even less, had a welcome home from Japan party for my daughter. :rotflm:

 

[ehpoole]

I did even less, had a welcome home from Japan party for my daughter. :rotflm:

What are the odds? My brother-in-law is in Japan, again, for the better part of a month -- much to my sister's dismay! (I've lost count of how many 3-6 week-long trips he has had to make over the past couple years.) With a bit of luck, hopefully this will be his last trip.

Getting back to the topic, I'll have to give some of these ideas a try one of these days.

 

[Mike Davis]

She's been in Japan for a solid year, turned 20 while she was there. On her way to NCSU this morning.