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Thread: What woods stain well?

  1. #1

    What woods stain well?

    Normally i like to NOT stain and choose wood species based on what color i want.

    When i have stained i have had mixed results.

    Is there a list anywhere that details different woods ability to stain well? or maybe what stains go well with what wood?

    IE. if you wanted to make something look like walnut without using walnut... what wood would be best?

    ive heard that Ash can be tricky
    ive had problems with Poplar
    Oak seems to be ok
    pine can be a probem sometimes


    anybody have any websites or resources on the subject?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    SE PA - Central Bucks County
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    65,675
    "What" you use to color the wood will also make a difference. Poplar with water soluble dye works wonderfully in my experience...you can do a very convincing cherry or pine, but NOT walnut due to the grain structure. In a similar vein, ash can mimic red oak if you choose your material carefully. For the former, a pigment based stain generally doesn't work and is also a problem on pine. For the latter, a pigment based stain is sometimes preferred as it helps with getting some color into the open pores, too.

    Matching other woods is not just a matter of color. It's about texture, grain, etc. And some woods get darker over time (cherry) while others get lighter. (walnut)

    Oh, and the best match for walnut, if you can't use walnut, might be butternut, it's "white" cousin. A little softer, but with some coloration, it will be an acceptable substitute.

    Whenever you have a choice, use the target species so you don't have to fool around with coloration or at least minimally.
    Last edited by Jim Becker; 01-15-2008 at 9:55 PM.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    Stephenville, TX
    Posts
    914
    The woods that stain the best (which for me means easist to not look awful) are the open grained woods like ash and especially oak. When you deal with a close grained wood like pine or maple they have a tendency to be blotchy.

    Knowing which type of wood tends to determine the stain. As Jim said, dye is best for some woods and will make the grain stand out more than a pigmented stain, which tends to obscure grain in some. For the close grained woods like pine the best seems to be a gel stain. Using a gel stain will help eliminate the blotchiness but you can really "lose" the grain. The last piece I used a gel stain on was a computer amoire I built of beech because there were problems with the plywood I used, and I think I may as well have painted (sorry about the sacreligious term) it.

    If you have some scrap and are willing to go to the expense of buying something for experimenting the best way is to test it first.

  4. #4
    If you want to color wood to imitate something else, especially in a large project where inconsistencies will be magnified.......make sure you have your sanding program intact, and your pre-finish preparation rock solid. Coloring wood will show every little area where you cheated or got a bit lazy. (Another reason why I love going with the natural beauty of wood).

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