How to get a dark stain on oak?

[Louis Brandt]

Hello,
How can I get a really dark stain on oak? I’m in the process of finishing my fireplace mantel and surround, and it’s made of solid 3 /4 inch oak. I want to get a dark stain onto it, and many stains go on very thin and when you’ve wiped the excess, they don’t leave a very dark color. I know that I can apply several coats to darken it, but is there a really super way to get a dark color on oak? I don’t want it to look like I’ve painted it, but I want to hide most of the heavy grain, and a dark look will do that.
Louis

[tod evans]

louis, black india ink. .02 tod

[Jeff Kerr]

I wish I could remember what magazine I just saw this in. There was an article that spoke to creating a dark stain. Believe it or not, part of the mixture is roofing tar. (Specific type).

Anyway mix the tar in a certain ratio to the other stain or oil and bingo you have a dark oak stain.

It may have been in the last popular woodworking. Wish my memory was better.

[tod evans]

jeff, in the old tomes it was refered to as "asphaltium", i`ve only been able to achieve a sticky mess but the oldtimers used it with great sucess. tod

[Don Baer]

How dark do you want to make it. You can always try ebonizing it.

[Hank Knight]

Louis,

My current project is an oak artist's studio easel for my daughter. Last weekend applied wood filler tinted with TransTint dye I ordered from Highland Hardware. I used a combination of "Medium Brown" and "Dark Mission Brown" in Behlen's water based filler. It looks good (haven't put the finish on yet). The dye in the filler darkened the wood and toned down the contrast between the dark grain and the light background, even after I sanded the filler. The dyes are "compatable with water-based finishes, shellac, lacquer, and gel varnishes.." It can be used to tint finishes or applied directly to the wood. I've never used it before, but it looks like the ticket for coloring oak and evening out the grain contrast. I'm sure Transtint is available from a number of suppliers, but here's the link to the Higland Hardware catalog entry:

http://www.tools-for-woodworking.com...OD&ProdID=1211

Hope this helps and good luck.

Hank

[Ernie Hobbs]

Louis:

You can try an aniline dye. That will give you a good, uniform color and still show the grain of the wood. Aniline dyes are available at Woodcraft, Woodworkers Supply, Rockler, etc.

[Steve Clardy]

I wish I could remember what magazine I just saw this in. There was an article that spoke to creating a dark stain. Believe it or not, part of the mixture is roofing tar. (Specific type).

Anyway mix the tar in a certain ratio to the other stain or oil and bingo you have a dark oak stain.

It may have been in the last popular woodworking. Wish my memory was better.

Tar and mineral spirits.

[Richard Wolf]

Find a can of Minwax stain that has been sitting around. Do not mix it. Pour off half of the mineral sprits from the top and mix it up. The result is a darker stain.

Richard

[Louis Brandt]

Ernie,
I've heard of analine dyes before, but I don't understand how to use them. Are they used in conjunction with an oil stain, or are they used just by themselves? I'm trying to get this solid 3/4 inch oak stained very dark, so that the grain is almost totally hidden, but not quite. Do I just apply the dye with a brush, or is the dye added to a stain, then mixed to darken it? And if the dye is just applied onto the raw wood, can I apply a poly sealer on top of that?
Louis

[Ernie Hobbs]

Ernie,
I've heard of analine dyes before, but I don't understand how to use them. Are they used in conjunction with an oil stain, or are they used just by themselves? I'm trying to get this solid 3/4 inch oak stained very dark, so that the grain is almost totally hidden, but not quite. Do I just apply the dye with a brush, or is the dye added to a stain, then mixed to darken it? And if the dye is just applied onto the raw wood, can I apply a poly sealer on top of that?
Louis

I think there are lots of ways people do it but this is what I do: I buy the powder dyes and mix a small amount with hot water. Make sure you wet and sand the piece before applying, since the water base will raise the grain. I apply the dye with a brush or rag and do another coat if I want it to be darker. It will dry quickly and you can come back with whatever finish you want. The last piece I did, I started with a dye, then oil to pop the grain, and then shellac for the finish. There are a million ways to do it but I'm happy with this combination and it's actually pretty fast.

[Steve Schoene]

Let me add to the info Ernie has given you. Dye will allow you to get the oak as dark as you want. The best way is to flood it one and wipe off excess. That way the darkness is determined almost entirely by how strong you mixed the dye in the first place.

With oak there is sometimes, but not nearly always, a problem where the dye does not penetrate the walls of the pores which seem rather waxy, leaving them too light. There are two solutions for this. First is to use Artiporin dye, available from Highland Hardware, that is specifically designed to solve this problem. The second is to follow up the dye--which will establish the overall color, with a pigmented stain that will largely lodge in the pores, covering the light areas. If you don't want the stain to add additional overall darkness, use a coat of 1 lb. cut shellac before applying the pigment stain. The stain will wipe off the surface, but remain in the pores.

[Louis Brandt]

Steve,
Thanks for the reply. Let me ask you this. How do I apply the dye? Must it be applied with a spray, or can it be wiped on in some way. And if it must be applied with a spray, does it require a power sprayer, or can it be done with a mist bottle, etc.?
Louis

[Steve Schoene]

The dye can be sprayed but by no means needs to be. A rag or a sponge works best for me. The object is to apply it liberally though you should be neat. You want to avoid drips and runs onto undyed areas. If those dry before the full application it could cause a dark spot you would have to work with.

As long as you have not applied a top coat or other sealer you can darken a dyed surface with a more concentrated dye since there is no binder to keep additional dye from penetrating. You can even alter color by applying a different shade. If the dye is too dark--though you should discover this with tests--you can lighten it some by wiping with plain water. If it is totally wrong, you can remove the dye with chlorine bleach. By the way, it is best to use distilled water since minerals in some water can affect the dye color.

Also we aware that the dyed surface can look very different when it dries, often looking dull and generally awful. But the top coat will revitalize the color. (A wipe with mineral spirits with show this effect until it dries.)

[Kari Colvin]

Paint wash works!

Although this is an older thread, I thought I'd share a solution I came up with for future DIYers who might be stumped. I spent many hours googling, looking for an answer, and I couldn't find one that worked. I am staining yellow pine stair treads that are a little beat up, oak rails and trim, and maple newel posts. I needed something super dark that didn't show much grain so all these woods would blend.


After several coats of stain (Minwax Espresso) it just wasn't happening. I had recently painted our brick fireplace a very dark brown (Behr in Dark Cavern) so I decided to try a paint wash over top of the stain. It worked like a charm! Using a slightly damp (and I mean slightly) rag I dipped it into some paint. Then I just wiped it on. Simple! It was pretty easy to wipe on without leaving streaks. (You only need a little.) You can do a second coat if you'd like it even darker. Even if it looks slightly streaky when wet, it will be very hard to see when dry. Then, just poly over it all. Make sure it has plenty of time to cure first, though.


Here is a photo showing the difference. The top two are oak. The left had been stained twice, the right only once. The bottom is the pine tread which was also stained twice. You can see the darker areas that I paint washed.



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The other photo shows the paint color I used.
I'll post a final photo when we're all done.
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