Matching finish of kraftmaid kitchen cabinets

[joe milana]

Built an island to match existing kraftmaid kitchen cabinets & am going to try & match the finish. I wanted to make it a complimentary color, distress & paint it, etc. but no can do. The existing finish is kind of a saddle brown with a hint of orange, maybe a bit darker, and is quite "opaque". I can barely see the wood grain through the finish. I had to ask what kind of wood the cabinets were. They're maple.
So far I've mixed up some trans tint dye & tested it on some samples. I would say I'm very close to the correct "Hue", but way too light, and lacking the "opacity" of the existing cabinet finish.
Any suggestions on how to approach this? Thanks!

[Alan Lightstone]

When I hear the word opaque, I think more of pigment stains instead of dyes. You could try adding the appropriate Mixol pigment/s, mixed with your finish or a shellac coat. Or successive coats of an appropriate pigment based stain should get more and more opaque.

I often mix TransTint dye coats and Mixol pigments to fine tune the color. Lots of test samples should get you there. Make sure you use all identical techniques on all the samples. All the same sanding, all the same # of coats of whatever finish you will be putting over the tinting, etc... as you plan on your finished sample. As such, no surpises when you finish the real piece.

[joe milana]

Thanks Alan. I was hoping that once I got the hue in the ballpark with the dye, I could "creep" up on the darkness & opacity with something.

[sheldon pettit]

Thanks Alan. I was hoping that once I got the hue in the ballpark with the dye, I could "creep" up on the darkness & opacity with something.

Joe, withour pics of what your trying to get it is hard to make any reccomendations ok? it could be that it's a toner made with pigments alone etc. ok.

[joe milana]

Sheldon, I'll get a pic, but it's typical of the cabinet you see at the big box stores. Very evenly toned finish with hardly any visible wood grain.

[sheldon pettit]

Sheldon, I'll get a pic, but it's typical of the cabinet you see at the big box stores. Very evenly toned finish with hardly any visible wood grain.

LOL, sorry i don't go to the BBS's very often,

[Alan Lightstone]

Sounds even more like toner. Definitely post pictures, and the real experts can help you more.

[sheldon pettit]

Sounds even more like toner. Definitely post pictures, and the real experts can help you more.

Finally, i get to meet the experts...... [joke, no offense.]

[Scott Holmes]

I suggest you get your base color with dye. Then seal it and usea lacquer or shellac based toner. Pre mixed toners are available in either dye or pigment the pigment toners will mask the grain more than the dye toners.

NOTE: I like sealing with shellac for lacquer toners and sealing with lacquer for shellac toners. If you use the same sealer and toner base then you lose the ability to correct mistakes. e.g. if you wipe the toner off the sealer comes with it. Also there is a greater chance for runs and drips when the sealer and toner are the same material.

[joe milana]

Sorry, I got dragged away from the project for a couple days. Scott, your suggestion is what I had in mind. Dye to get the color, then darken with toners. I know of no "premixed toners", or "pigment toners". All I have is a collection of trans tint dyes. Can you give me a source or some examples of available toners? Thanks

[Scott Holmes]

Mixing your own is OK too. Woodcraft and Rockler both sell rattle cans of toner. Master by Behlen's brand I think.

Jeff Jewitt @ Homestead sells them too.

[Don Jarvie]

Just an FYI. Home Depot can order the stain from Kraftmaid to match your cabinets. You just need the color. The stain is made by Mohawk.

[joe milana]

Thanks Don. I have a can on the way. I have no way of knowing what I will be getting, so I hope it works. Any way, this doesn't do much for my experience of matching existing finish, but I have plenty of other projects in the works.

[Don Jarvie]

A few things I noticed. Our cabinets are birch with toffee for a finish so I was trying to match that. The stain went on easy. I just brushed it on and wiped it off with a rag after a few minutes, I think I used 2 coats.

I suggest before you stain the piece you take a decent size piece of scrape and try to match the finish. For my cabinet I sanded 150, 220 and 320 and 2 coats of stain matched perfectly. This will save you some headaches if the piece gets stained too dark and you need to resand and stain. Trust me.

[Jim Becker]

Don't forget that your test pieces must be finished all the way through at least one or more applications of your intended top coat to get an idea about what the real color will be...