Matching new Walnut to Old

[Charles Krieger]

I have a chair that I'm repairing and I need to match the new walnut to the 45 year old walnut. Anyone have any suggestions?

[Chris Tsutsui]

You'd probably get way better advice in the finishing forum.

I can only share what my contractor friend did for a job... he's got a wide variety of finishes, he would cut out walnut swatches (like 2" x 4" x 1/4") Then he will stain each one with something different and write the stain on the back of the swatch. Let those cure and find the one that matches the best.

Then he may or may not need to play with adding some dye to it.

Some people are just naturally good with color and can tell whether a color needs red, green, or blue added to it to color match.

In graphics I always match the brightness first and adjust contrast, then last I play with the hue last. Still, it's I expect it to be extremely difficult to get a perfect match.

[Jim Matthews]

A test board with Bichromate of Potash washes may get you there.

This stuff has a pronounced affect, at dilute levels. (A little goes a long way.)
You'll need a to make test strip, to gauge your mix concentration. Apply finish after the stuff is really dry.

[Charles Krieger]

A test board with Bichromate of Potash washes may get you there.

This stuff has a pronounced affect, at dilute levels. (A little goes a long way.)
You'll need a to make test strip, to gauge your mix concentration. Apply finish after the stuff is really dry.

Thanks for the link. I will try Bichromate of Potash on some future project but it doesn't sound like it is right for the rework/repair that I am now doing. The old walnut has become much lighter than the new walnut. Most woods darken, but walnut lightens with age.

I am now trying an experiment with a sample piece of the new wood, exposing it to bright sunlight for a few days to see if the UV from the sunlight will lighten it. If it does I may have found a solution as I have not yet glued up the new pieces to the old.

I did try bleaching the new walnut but that is extreme (removes all color). It did not come close to the color of the old walnut which is a very pleasing golden brown. Bleaching, then tinting, might be an option and I am considering that as well. Another possibility: refinish all 6 chairs, but that is not an option I would like to undertake.

Again thanks for your reply. Bichromate of Potash sounds very interesting for some future project as it appears to darken walnut through the tanins in the wood. I am very interested to see if sap wood responds to the treatment.

[Peter Quinn]

I took a class with a pro finisher regularly featured in FWW, and he addressed a similar question concerning walnut repair. He spelled out a schedule that started with A-B bleach to remove some to all of the color depending on the desired effect. You have to play with that stuff, using longer or shorter application times of the second chemical before neutralizing. Otherwise it just makes the wood white. Then he used water based dyes to tint back to that "antique" washed out walnut color. He used the Lockwood dyes (wdlockwood.com) sometimes mixing several different colors, or using a prepared base color and pushing it with one of the primary colors. You may need some primary's and some earth tones (umbers and ochres) to match old work, not much out of the package is going to work exactly. It is some tricky colorist work, so be prepared to experiment and be patient.

[sheldon pettit]

I have a chair that I'm repairing and I need to match the new walnut to the 45 year old walnut. Anyone have any suggestions?

just what type of repairs are you making Charles, arms/legs/etc., and how large are they? depending on the size, this is normally reproduced with pigments and dyes in the feild of touch up / patching.

[Charles Krieger]

I am replacing a strip of wood about 6" long x 3/4" thick on the two rear legs of the chair where the dowels broke out that attach the seat rails. It is a small area but it is highly visible. The chair style is danish modern (45 years ago). I have seen the same chairs on a Lincoln advertisement that is currently running on TV.

The dark replacement wood is a rather sharp contrast to the time and UV faded original wood. I suspect that if I try to "color" it without first bleaching that I could never get the right result. The grain would become obscured if the color added was intense enough to hide the dark walnut color.

I am presently exposing a scrap piece of the replacement wood to our California sunshine every day. I can see a slight change in color after only 2 days. I suspect 30 days of direct sunlight would make a noticeable change but I have no idea what the color would be however I'm sure it would be less intense than the typical black walnut.

To show how times have changed I looked up what we paid for the 6 chairs in 1967. We paid $763.00 but our records don't show the manufacturer. I couldn't buy the walnut for the chairs for that price today let alone the fabric.

[sheldon pettit]

I am replacing a strip of wood about 6" long x 3/4" thick on the two rear legs of the chair where the dowels broke out that attach the seat rails. It is a small area but it is highly visible. The chair style is danish modern (45 years ago). I have seen the same chairs on a Lincoln advertisement that is currently running on TV.

The dark replacement wood is a rather sharp contrast to the time and UV faded original wood. I suspect that if I try to "color" it without first bleaching that I could never get the right result. The grain would become obscured if the color added was intense enough to hide the dark walnut color.

I am presently exposing a scrap piece of the replacement wood to our California sunshine every day. I can see a slight change in color after only 2 days. I suspect 30 days of direct sunlight would make a noticeable change but I have no idea what the color would be however I'm sure it would be less intense than the typical black walnut.

To show how times have changed I looked up what we paid for the 6 chairs in 1967. We paid $763.00 but our records don't show the manufacturer. I couldn't buy the walnut for the chairs for that price today let alone the fabric.

Well there is not doubt if you have the time that sunlight will eventually get you where your going or very close,lol. With that said, a good touch up man or patcher who does that type of work would be able to do it after you had glued it back together, i know i was one, still am but not active. Call around and look up re-finishers etc. to see who might be available for this, even if they charge you 100 bucks at least you can get on your way to finishing them up. just a thought.