After staining and using water based poly, how to change the color ?


Martin-IT

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Working primarily from a picture, I tried to match the color  of a project,  with the existing cabinet in an apartment.  Based on a picture, an oil-based stain seem to be the best. Being in winter, and having to finish the piece in the basement, I did not want to take a chance with the vapor, and I used a water based finish which did not seem as good as the oil-based (not as many color in the water based than the oil based). The resulting color is 'chocolate', while the cabinet have more of a brown-black finish. I used a water based stain, with 2 coats of water based poly on top.  I have to drive 4 hours to get to where it is being used, making difficult the color match process (and I cannot take a door off the cabinet, being a rental apartment).

How can I change the color, without starting from scratch aka, removing all the finishes.

1-Try to put tint (I have some which is water soluble) in the clear finish and recoat it (I have a few transtint color)?

2-I have never done glazing, could it be a potential over the clear finish ?

3-Sand some spot to expose the wood, and used a darker stain (or will this produce a zebra look) ?

4-Suggestion ?

My skill to do join over the years has improved, but not my finishing skill. I do one or 2 pieces a year, with many joints each(practices...), but only one finish per project! 

 

 

 

 

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I'd put some dye in shellac and spray on a light coat. It's going to be really hard to get a match if you can't do some trial and error. It'd be very nice if there was some piece that you could bring back with you. You'd then want to top coat the shellac with some WB poly again. It's starting to sound like too many coats.

This is why I'll never promise even getting close to a color match. Other things to consider is they may match now but when the finish yellows and UV light changes the color of the poly and the wood the existing a new could start deviating in color. Depending on the wood and location this could happen quickly.

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The piece is mostly soft maple, with some cherry. Being stain, there is not difference in the final color. The apartment complex is only a year old, I stopped at the management office to get the cabinet manufacturer and the finish. Hopefully,  I may get a sample from them.  The piece is in a bathroom, with no window, not much UV getting to it. It is a modified version of a product at Pottery Barn (Benchwright Ladder Floor Storage),

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20 hours ago, Martin-IT said:

The piece is in a bathroom, with no window, not much UV getting to it.

UV will speed it up but oxidizing / color change is inevitable.

Hum i find it interesting that someone would go to such extents to have a commissioned product try and match perfectly with cabinetry in a rental unit. They are going to move eventually and then what?

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The commissioner is my wife (the easiest customer to make happy) !  we had to rent an apartment for a  year while she completes her clinical work for her degree,. It is 4 hours away from our house. I do not do woodworking for living, just for fun during the Fall/Spring (working out of a garage in the north east->winter too cold and summer too hot).The managing company loaned me a stain pen, from the cabinet company.  It is a temporarily setup, we always planned to give the furniture away once we were done, since we have no place to use it in our house.   Renting the furniture was 150$/month (with no mattress) and a moving truck 200-300$. With this in mind, we bought a few pieces locally, and for the rest I brought them down in my small suv on my weekend trips.  

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