Blanket Chest Questions

[Guy Germaine]

I may be commissioned to make a blanket chest for a friend of my wife. They just bought a new bedroom set and the finish is called "Merlot" and they want the finish to match. My guess is that it's a deep red/wine color. My questions is (are) what wood to start with, and what to use to get the color to match. My first though is to start with Cherry since it already has some red tones to it. Has anyone ever heard of a Merlot finish?

[Jeff Sudmeier]

Take a look at what they have already. The challenge that you are going to have with Cherry is that it darkens over time. If it matches now it won't match a year from now.

I would be looking for a light wood that accepts stain well for this project. Then stain it to match. Others will be able to help with the wood choice... poplar?

[Guy Germaine]

Poplar was my next choice. I just found out that they bought the furniture at Value City Furniture

I'll take a ride up there and look at it in person. My guess is that since they bought the furniture there, they may not want to spend what I would charge for a custom blanket chest.

[Charlie Plesums]

I agree that Cherry is not a good choice because it will change over time.

I would not choose Poplar, because it is relatively soft, and the green/brown color in some of the wood would not make a good stain base.

I would consider maple, even soft maple, which (in the select quality) is basically pure white, and has a pretty neutral grain. It can be harder to stain, but I have had good luck with either dye, or sanding smooth, then gently going over the surface with 150 grit to give enough tooth to hold the stain. At that point, you only have to match the color, and not worry about changing color.

[Todd Burch]

"Merlot" is a wine. These marketing companies are such a PITA when it comes to colors. Can you tell it aggrevates me to no end?!!

The color is probably a dark traditional mahogany.

Value City eh? Guy - let me give you some advice. Run, do not walk. Run away from this commission.

In the event that you do get sucked into this whirlwind of demise... start with birch plywood.

[Kevin Post]

Hard telling what Merlot really looks like. I made some custom cabinets that had to match the style and color of some commercially made cabinets. This lady was PICKY!

Cherry is somewhat difficult to finish as it tends to get blotchy. I used a vinyl sealer on the bare wood before applying anything to color it. I sprayed the stain and a couple different toners on the wood to get an exact match. Once I had the match, sprayed a pre-cat laquer. The other thing interesting about this is, according to the vendor, the cherry will not change color as it ages. After five years, the original commercial cabinets and my cutom cabinets are still a perfect match. Either they are all getting darker together as they age or the vendor was correct.

[Todd Burch]

That's right Kevin. Cherry - the wood - will darken over time. Cherry - a stain color - probably won't change color over time (probably: depending on the quality of stain, affect of UV rays and level of UV applied, top coat, yada, yada, yada.)

I've yet to see stained "cherry wood" change color.

Todd

[Chris Barton]

Hello Guy,

You have gotten some good advice here so far. I will throw out some and see what others think. First, there is a guy in Ohio named Troy Sexton that makes custom furniture and he uses a color in some of his work that sounds similar to what your potential client wants. He is well published in the woodworking mags and you can find some of his work there along with the distributor for the stain he uses. Second, cherry may or may not darken over time. I know this sounds controversial but, cherry will only darken over time if exposed to UV light. Light that enters houses most often does so by way of glass windows. Glass windows block most UV rays so, usually not enough UV rays enter a home to darken cherry. Second, most clear finishes have a UV inhibitor built in and thus protect the finished piece from color changes. I have a bedroom set made by Cresent Home Furnishings. Part of the set was purchased 25 years ago and part of the set was purchased 8 years ago and all the pieces of this open stock solid cherry set are identical in color. No differences based on age of light exposure. Lastly, most commercial furniture is not stained but rather, tinted or toned, using dyes in lacquer.

If I were in you situation I would have to let my client know that I don't promise a perfect match to furniture that I didn't build...

[Kevin Post]

I called the guy who sold me the finish. He told me the particular vinyl sealer I used on the wood contains UV blockers that prevent the cherry from darkening.

The blotches in cherry and maple occur when a traditional oil stain is absorbed more readily in some sections of the wood than in others. The vinyl sealer prevents the stain/dye/toner from actually being absorbed into the wood. It just sits on top like a layer of colored cellophane. That's why this system only works well if you spray everything. What he sold me was supposed to be the same or similar to the finishing system the original cabinet manufacturer used.

He matched the color by starting with a stain that was close to the desired color and then added toners to get an exact match. Had I not used a product with a UV Blocker, the guy told me the cherry underneath all of the various layers of finish would continue to darken naturally.

All I can say is I will never take on a job again that requires this type of matching. I spent more time chasing stain colors and laquer than I did building the stuff. It was interesting but really a pain when it came right down to it.