All Replies on Wood stain?

I’m with you on that. Only thing I have used stain on is plywood. Although Charles Neil did a video on using dye to make figured wood stand out more. It was interesting and worth a watch. I had a friend who I made some picture frames for out of oak and he wanted them stained so he brought over some deck stain for them. I told him that is not what he is looking for and the oak would be almost the same color he picked after it was sealed.

I don’t use plywood except for jigs when needed. I use polyurethane for a finish. Water based when I want water clear to show the natural color and grain and oil based when I want to just darken the piece a little.

Natural is fine and dandy but it doesn’t usually work with a clients decore.
I find myself staining to match, or to go better with the surroundings.
If you ask me stain can enrich the wood, and can really make it stand out more than if it’s just natural.
With me it depends, when I make boxes and such I never stain the wood.
I personally like the natural woods to show.
But, everybody has different opinions for what they like and sometimes business drives the decision.
I made a wall unit (you can see in my projects) out of Walnut, one of my favorite woods, but I just love the rich color of it stained. Each their own i guess.

I just looked at your wall unit. THAT’S WALNUT? I can’t even figure out what that looks like.

Whether to color wood or not varies by the person. I never build any fine furniture without some color. To my eye, light woods, especially maple, look lifeless without a bit of color, and curly maple can really take off with various color treatments. All of the exotic woods eventually end up some shade of brown, so I don’t use them much. Cherry is gorgeous after a few years of aging, but I have a recipe to make it look aged from the beginning. Not quite as good as the real thing, but it blends right in as the wood ages. Walnut can take on a grayish hue which washes out the deep rich tones of the wood, and a little of the right color brings out the purple, red, brown and yellow tones in the wood. I love oak with darker negative grain. I use dyes, not pigment stains – there is a huge difference. The right coloring techniques really enhances the beauty of the wood.

If your exotics turn brown, move them out of the direct light. Heat is what makes them turn brown.

I just looked at your wall unit. THAT S WALNUT? I can t even figure out what that looks like.

- papadan

It’s Veneer ;)

Yep, that’s what I saw. Looks like a whole lot of veneer to me, can’t get that much bookmatched lumber.

I, too, like the natural color but sometimes the customer wants the piece to match an existing decor.

-- Lew- Time traveler. Purveyor of the Universe's finest custom rolling pins.

Clear poly or linseed oil & paste wax.

M

I don’t build anything for customers, they tend to be too damn picky. I build what I want and sell to people that like my work.

OSU55 speaks for me. And I use dyes rather than stains. But I don’t always use dyes on every project. Depends on the look I want.

If you are doing large projects like kitchen cabinets in red oak, you need to even out the tone so the whole project looks unified. I find that red oak is so variable in color that staining is the only solution for that, otherwise I’d be wasting an enormous amount of wood to color match every piece. Clients just won’t pay for that. If you are making a one off table then it doesn’t matter and you can color match the wood and avoid the stain, unless the client wants it to match something else in the room. I never stain cherry, but the oaks call for it more in my opinion. Steamed walnut is another one that needs some additional color or it doesn’t really look like walnut.

-- Bondo Gaposis

Who makes kitchens out of oak? The grain is so loud you can’t sleep!

Try jatoba (AKA Brazilian Cherry).

M

Everyone else is such an idiot, and you’re so much more right and better than them, right?

Why does everyone use so much stain on their projects? I have never and will never use any kind of stain on any kind of fine woodworking project. The only time I use anything is when building toys for children, then I use food coloring to die the pieces different colors. Everything I build is the actual color of the wood, from light like Maple to dark from Walnut. I use purple heart, red and yellow heart, padouk for orange. Why build something a different color than what you want it to be?

- papadan

How does anyone have the audacity to assume his way of doing things is the only good one?

I see this is the year of being argumentative.
Each piece of wood has its own beauty and I like the natural look if you use dye or stain to bring out the grain structure then so be it. But why stain over the natural color. If it’s plywood then it’s fair game for whatever.

Everyone else is such an idiot, and you re so much more right and better than them, right?

Why does everyone use so much stain on their projects? I have never and will never use any kind of stain on any kind of fine woodworking project. The only time I use anything is when building toys for children, then I use food coloring to die the pieces different colors. Everything I build is the actual color of the wood, from light like Maple to dark from Walnut. I use purple heart, red and yellow heart, padouk for orange. Why build something a different color than what you want it to be?

- papadan

- gargey

Thank you for your comment Gargey, I asked a question which a lot of people have answered. As usual one asshole has to try and start trouble, but I can just block him from ever posting on one of my threads.

How does anyone have the audacity to assume his way of doing things is the only good one?

- ArtMann

Artmann, nobody here has said thiers is the only good way. You assume too much my friend.

Who makes kitchens out of oak? The grain is so loud you can t sleep!

Try jatoba (AKA Brazilian Cherry).

M

- Madmark2

Who sleeps in their kitchen?

-- Bondo Gaposis

Just a bump.

bondo i have been to parties where people have been “sleeping” in the kitchen. Its hard to make a sandwich when you have to step over bodies.

I went to a few of those too, back in the 60s and 70s. Always had a certain fog in the air too.

My wife loves the au-natural walnut counter tops I made to sit atop the cabinets with cherry doors she painted antique white for our coffee bar. This is adjacent to our kitchen with red oak cabinets stained a medium brown and she asked me to glaze stain over to enhance the grain.

So my answer to your question why would someone choose to stain or color wood…. I will to please my wife! Will I stain the next project she has me make for her? If that’s what she wants. (However, it did pain me to paint those cherry doors.)

-- Rick - I know I am not perfect, but I will keep pressing on toward the goal of becoming all I am called to be.

I hear you Cracknpop, I’ve been lucky for 42 years that my wife loves natural woods and not paint or stain. If she ever changes her mind I will be on this site asking how to use stain. LOL Love your username, fits my movements exactly.

If the Boss wants a project painted….I hand her a brush, and walk away. IF I was building a project for someone else ( back in the days of selling my stuff) and they wanted it painted, I would deliver the item to them, ready for paint. Collect the payment, and drive away.

Stain? There are some woods that actually NEED a dash of colour applied to them….like plain old Poplar

Barely see any grain…..but, when you do add just a touch of colour to the mix..

That barely seen grain will just pop right out, and show itself.

-- A Planer? I'M the planer, this is what I use