Trying to Match Wood with stain

[Karl Klein]

This would be my first post and it has to do with a current project. I'm building a Butternut bookshelf with lower drawers and face frames of Butternut, and an upper shelving unit with face frame and shelves of the same Butternut. My challenge is that I have planned to use a veneer ply for the back and side of the shelving unit and I want it to closely match the face frames. I priced Butternut Plywood, and veneer, but both are more than I want to spend. My next thought was to stain a more reasonable ($$) ply veneer to match the Butternut. I am new at stains, as most of my finish is either pre-cat laquer or paint, both sprayed. I also have had no luck in finding Butternut as a stain color. Anyone have a suggestion for the process or the stains to mix to get a close color??

[Chris Padilla]

Well, of course, you will want to experiment on some scrap ply. You didn't say what kind of wood is veneered on the ply.

Butternut is kind of yellowish so I wonder how the ply would look with some BLO (boiled linseed oil) applied to it? Once the BLO dries, you can lay down a thin coat of clear shellac as a barrier coat (1# cut) and then your lacquer on top of that if you wish.

Staining or Coloring is quite the art. There are a lot of things you can do in regards to coloring wood of one kind to look like another kind. Aniline dyes are very popular.

I would HIGHLY suggest you buy or visit your local library and read:

Bob Flexner's Understanding Wood Finishing: How to Select and Apply the Right Finish

I'm heading to my local wood store to pick up some brown or dark brown aniline dye (water mix) to color some reddish walnut to be more like a chocolate brown walnut.

[Scott Holmes]

Butternut is "white walnut" Love the stuff I have ~100 bf left.

Depending on the final outcome you are looking for "pecan" or "fruitwood" colors may get you close. Practice on lager samples the small ones will mislead you. Maybe you could find some pecan ply.

Another option would be to find the really light colored luan mahogany ply for your back etc.

[Karl Klein]

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll keep you informed as to the outcome. I will definitely test, test, test to get it right. Also, Chris I'm ordering the finish book you mentioned. It sounds like a good primer for all my projects. I've been a finish carpenter for about 22 years and now I've switched to cabinets and furniture. I'm in a small but affluent area in remote Vermont, luckily there's a good client base up here.
Thanks again,
Karl