Stain color tinting

[Rick Beko]

I have made a couple of shelves and a replacement cabinet door for my FIL's kitchen. My next task is to colour match with the existing cabinetry. I am planning to use a Minwax oil based stain. I have various colours of the same brand and other oil based finishes...eg BLO, Watco danish oil. What options do I have to match up the colour?

[Steve Schoene]

Matching factory finished furniture is quite challenging. There is likely to be no one dye that will do a very good job, since the factory finish is likely to have been applied in multiple stages, include some toner where there is color in a topcoat layer. Factories achieve greater evenness than hand applied finishes because of their use of spray materials. (But factories also are more likely to have to cover up mismatched or other wood problems.) It's easy for the amateur finisher to achieve a superior finish, just very difficult to match the factory.

You will have to make lots of tests on scrap. Try a stain, put on some of the top coat, and use another stain (a glaze really) to adjust the color. If the color you are seeking to match is dark, then start with dye to establish the basic color and darkness, and then seal that and layer on some pigmented stain.

[John Mihich]

Cheat - Go to Sherwin Williams or another good paint store. Give them an existing door and a sample of the new wood. They should be able to come up with a match.