ArtJacobson Posted November 21, 2018 Report Share Posted November 21, 2018 (edited) Hello, Been watching the forums for a while now, finally decided to join today! I want to match an existing project that's red cedar with a shellac finish. It looks like the attached image, mostly clear / rift sawn / straight grain with a brown very slightly warm tone. (Not reddish cedar) I would love to use something like white oak since this need to be durable, but not sure if I'd be able to match it with off the shelf stains and finishes? Thanks for any ideas or links to techniques. Edit/Update: By durable, I meant a harder wood that will stand up to use indoors as a shelf. Art Edited November 21, 2018 by ArtJacobson Added detail Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keggers Posted November 21, 2018 Report Share Posted November 21, 2018 Hello Art. Welcome to the forum! You said the wood needs to be durable. Where will it be used? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chestnut Posted November 21, 2018 Report Share Posted November 21, 2018 When you say white oak for durability do you mean out door durable or indoor durable? If you need it to be outdoor durable why not just make it out of Red Cedar. If you want a wood with a higher hardness than it gets tricky. If you want to use a hardwood why does it need to match? You will never be able to turn a ring porous hardwood into a softwood with stain it's like trying to fit a square in a round hole. A diffuse porous hardwood like cherry would match the grain look better but it's not outdoor durable and it's difficult to color it lighter with out bleaching and a lot of chemical processes. Maple is also not outdoor durable but is diffuse porous so it'll look somewhat similar but the grain is very soft and often wavy. it's light in color so you could tint or dye it easily but matching color and dealing with blotch is going to be a nightmare. Honduran Mahogany is going to be outdoor durable as well as white oak but the pores and grain structure will be vastly different and the color isn't going to be that similar as well. My best advice is to make it out of the wood you want it to be made out of don't worry about matchy matchy wood matches wood. Go tour old mansions and see how many species get crammed into a single room. Construction style will pull pieces together stylistically more so than wood and color. This isn't a black and white statement putting maple next to walnut is very contrasting, equally contrasting is putting white oak next to maple for grain appearance. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArtJacobson Posted November 21, 2018 Author Report Share Posted November 21, 2018 Thanks for the replies! By durable, I meant hardness but still used indoors. It'll be a floating shelf. Sorry for any confusion! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drzaius Posted November 21, 2018 Report Share Posted November 21, 2018 Welcome to the forum Art. There really is no way to make cedar durable, or to look anything like white oak for all the reasons listed by @Chestnut above. The best thing you can do is just finish the cedar without trying to alter the color much. Trying to do more will just make it look bad at best. Red cedar is a beautiful wood that is best used on vertical surfaces or horizontal ones that are not subjected to a lot of abuse. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chestnut Posted November 22, 2018 Report Share Posted November 22, 2018 I guess i don't know how much abuse the shelf is going to take but i know that a good film forming finish like polyurethane can go a little ways in making softwoods more durable. Think of it like the thin candy shell on an M&M, or Reese's pieces if that's more to your liking. For an indoor cedar lookalike I'd check if natural cherry is to your liking otherwise for a floating shelf I'd probably just make it out of cedar and build up a good layer of finish on the wear surface. My biggest concern for softer woods is when used as a table. Eventually a ball point pen is going to come along and damage will be the outcome. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drzaius Posted November 22, 2018 Report Share Posted November 22, 2018 Yes, several coats of poly will provide protection from minor scratching. Using matte or flat will help keep it from looking too plasticky. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArtJacobson Posted November 22, 2018 Author Report Share Posted November 22, 2018 3 hours ago, Chestnut said: My biggest concern for softer woods is when used as a table. Eventually a ball point pen is going to come along and damage will be the outcome. Yea, even some pine leaves traces of pen dents through paper. Not that I would know... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted November 22, 2018 Report Share Posted November 22, 2018 Art, for matching that grain and color with a somewhat more durable species, try shopping around for some older, slow grown Southern Yellow Pine. And use a tough poly finish. Otherwise, take @Chestnut's suggestion, and choose a durable species of whatever grain and color you like. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gee-dub Posted November 22, 2018 Report Share Posted November 22, 2018 Asking for a bit more info. Is the color match desired so that the existing piece and the new piece look like a set? As in, there is already a shelf present and you want to add another? The reason I ask is that if the existing and new pieces are to appear as one, that is a bit of an art form and some people are quite good at it. If the pieces are to be in the same room and match, things become easier and even I have done that, although with the same species. If you are just after the "look" of your example it becomes much easier. Find a new home for the existing piece and make everything out of hard maple and color it to your liking. This will make achieving the color easy but, the figure will not be there. Alder can have a straight grain appearance similar to your example and also colors well. If white oak's figure is acceptable I would use that. White oak can present all the way from "pretty white" through "cocoa brown" so you would have to be selective at the yard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArtJacobson Posted November 25, 2018 Author Report Share Posted November 25, 2018 Thanks for the replies guys. I think I'll just take my chances with cedar for now and study up on my woods for future projects. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.