Evening out the color in this plywood board

[Alex Souza]

Hello, everyone.

I bought this board of marine plywood (sold as made of Copaíba) to build some book shelves and a desk top. Before getting it, I bought some oil-based stain (Incolor and Mogno). When I finally got the board, I really liked the veneer's grain pattern but the problem is that its color is so uneven that I can't figure out what to do about it before finishing. Look:

IMG_2663 (1).jpg

Before anyone recommend buying a better quality board, I'm in Brazil and we don't really have decent plywood boards available, in general. In my region, that is the top quality stuff I could find.

I tried the mogno stain and I think it turned out beautiful on the dark sections. Then I tried applying several coats only on the light colored section but it didn't work properly (didn't really even out the color and it ended up kinda waxy):

IMG_2658 (1).jpg

(this is not the final board, it's just scrap)

Does anyone have any ideas?

[Scott Holmes]

I would recommend a dye instead of a stain. There's plenty available online; I don't have any idea what is available Brazil.

[Jim Becker]

Alex, I'm guessing that this is the nature of that particular species. I'll go with Scott and suggest using a dye for what I think you want to accomplish, but it will be meticulous work to get there.

[glenn bradley]

+2. Stains do not "layer up" the intensity of the color well. Dyes can be intensified with additional application.

[Alex Souza]

Thanks, everyone. Dye is what I was think of trying. I'm thinking of trying to dye (only) the light parts untill I get an even color all over and then apply one or two coats of stain (as I liked the outcome on the dark sections).

Is something like that you have in mind when suggesting dye?

p.s. - It doesn't have to be 100% even all over, I want to keep it rustic a little bit.

[John TenEyck]

You have a good plan. Find a dye close to the color of the dark areas. You may have to buy two or three dyes and custom blend them to get the right color. Then apply the dye to just the light areas using a brush, rag, or sponge, whatever works for you. It may take two or three applications of the dye to build up to the right color. When you are close put another coat on the entire board. When that's dry you can apply a coat of your stain to further unify the color. You can either do that directly to the dyed board, or apply a sealer first and then put the stain on top of that.

John

[Alex Souza]

Thanks, John. Will see what I can do with the available products over here. Will post pictures of the result (may take a while...).