Cherry-ish stain for Douglas Fir?

[John Sanford]

I'm currently building a bed out of Douglas Fir, and am considering a final color in the vicinity of cherry. I'm not at all concerned about trying to pass it off as cherry, that's simply the "color neighborhood" I'm considering. Recommendations on readily available stains to get in the neighborhood? I really don't want to buy 5 or 6 different stains to experiment.

[Andrew Pitonyak]

I grabbed some Cherry stain from General Finishes. I needed it a little darker to match some existing furniture so I added just a bit of java (essentially black) and it matched perfectly.

I have not stained douglas fir, I expect it might be blotchy. So you might want to use something for blotch control.

[Jim Becker]

John, I don't think you can totally avoid any experimentation on scrap of the same wood. "Cherry" isn't a color...it's a subjective representation of what a given stain or dye manufacturer decided that cherry looks like. Some are dark and maroonish; others are less so. And you may find that a stain or dye that has a marketing name that's completely different from "cherry" may give you the look that you personally desire. Nature of the beast...

[Gene Davis]

Try the DIY thing and use Minwax, first their pre-stain conditioner, then their Polyshades in the cherry color. Do it on a sample piece of DF first.

[Mike Monroe]

You might want to consider glazing the piece also. Few years back I made a queen sized bed out of reclaimed Doug Fir and four panel pine doors from a 1920's Montgomery Wards kit house. I experimented with stains and glazing to get just the right combination of color and depth that made Doug Fir and pine doors blend together and look 100 years old. Practicing to get the stain, glazing, and finish just right was well worth the effort.

I agree with Jim, you need to experiment on scrap to get dialed in to what you're looking for. Go to a big box and get some of those small sample tubes of stain to get started.

[Chris Yarish]

There is "cherry", which many furniture and pool table manufacturers call their stain (and it looks Merlot/burgundy).
Then there is cherry wood, which has a generally pinkish brown tone pre-UV, and a caramel color when finished/exposed to UV light.

[Prashun Patel]

I am partial to water based dyes. I think they are more economical, store better, blend easier, and are easier to tweak. The only downside is because you mix them yourself and can tweak, you have to test before using.

I like WD Lockwood dyes, and have had good success getting that rust brown of antique cherry using #346 Cherrytone Amber, and #911 Natural Antique Cherry. Mix them on the dilute side; the more you concentrate, the darker, blacker they become.

You can check out all their colors on their website. In fact, you can even buy a 'sampler' pack of 5 dyes, which will allow you to mix to a perfect color if you're feeling mixxy.

[Phillip Mitchell]

I don't have much to add except that you should definitely use some sort of conditioner/pre stain solution to minimize the blotching, which will definitely happen with Doug Fir if you don't do that first. You can use already made stuff or mix up your own solution. I've had good success with applying conditioner heavily (wipe off any excess after a couple minutes) about 30 min - 1 hr before you actually stain. That and proper sanding should help to minimize any blotch and weird stuff coming through on the stain coat.