knotty pine finish

Any suggestions on how to finish a knotty pine cabinet to match the yellowed finish on some 60y/o cabinets? Thanks

You can takea sample of the old wood in and have the stain matched. The other thing I have done to match old wood is use a stain that is close and then a coat or 2 of orange shellac. The best way is to experiment on a scrap board. Some people say you need to wet pine to make it look unblotchy. With light color stain I don't do that. I useually stick with minwax stain. I have had considerable luck with it. If you try shellac to make it look orange and you are using a WB topcoat them make sure that it is dewaxed shellac.

Quinn

I'd first make a test board using orange shellac (that's now called Amber if you buy it from Zinnser.) But, if you plan waterborne or poly top coat you need dewaxed shellac and that would have to be mixed from flakes to get an orange or amber color. You might be surprised at how close you get. Aim for a half shade too light since in a year or so the pine will do a fair amount of darkening on it's own. The shellac is quite color stable itself though.

If that isn't right, then I'd really suggest you shoot for a distinctly different coloration since matching colors is such a challenging task. If you have spray facilities, you can creep up on the desired color with very lightly tinted toner coats. Without spray facilities you pretty much need to get a dye coat right the first time. (First time on the cabinet--it will take many, many tests with dye (and top coat) to find the right shade and concentration.) A good eye, and a place to work with the same light as the cabinets you need to match are also very helpful.

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Originally Posted by Quinn McCarthy

You can takea sample of the old wood in and have the stain matched. The other thing I have done to match old wood is use a stain that is close and then a coat or 2 of orange shellac. The best way is to experiment on a scrap board. Some people say you need to wet pine to make it look unblotchy. With light color stain I don't do that. I useually stick with minwax stain. I have had considerable luck with it. If you try shellac to make it look orange and you are using a WB topcoat them make sure that it is dewaxed shellac.

Quinn

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Thanks Quinn, I think the old cabinets just have a clear varnish finish that has yellowed over the years. I'm afraid that if i tried to stain first, I would get blotchiness. I think I'm going to try spraying with zinser sealcoat with some transtint dye, then topcoat with WB poly. That way I can play with the color a bit. I was considering zinser amber shelac, then the poly, but I'm not sure if the zinser shelac is dewaxed.

Here's how I match new pine to old.

Sand to 180/220, 2 coats of Charles Neil Blotch control, transtint dark vintage maple (this gives the underlying yellow color), shellac (may be tinted), stain and varnish.

good luck.