1st serious project, acclimating wood, deep dark wood

[Klausbird]

Marc,

First, just want to say thanks for all your efforts over the years. You have inspired me many times and provided many answers. I appreciate your help, hard work, and humor.

Ive been a home woodworker for several years, when time permits. This past year I decided to start what I consider to be my first serious project. I'm designing and building a set of bedroom furniture. Might be biting off more than I can chew! In this project I'm doing a few things for the first time. Like using a hardwood dealer, and staining the wood.

Anyway, to get to my questions. My wife and I would like the furniture to be a deep dark color. I've experimented with your Java gel stain on hard maple, cherry, and walnut. I tried it with and without shellac under it. Walnut seems to be the only one I can get deep and dark. This is my first time venturing out with new types of wood, and I wanted your opinion on walnut and any other you might recommend for a deep dark solution.

Also, what is your recommendation for time to acclimate the rough sawn wood in my shop before starting to work with it? Does it depend on the type of wood? Do I need to further acclimate it after milling it? This project is important to me, and I don't want to ruin a bunch of expensive wood.

Thanks for your time,

Klaus

[thewoodwhisperer]

Hi Klaus. Welcome to the craft and the forum!

When it comes to staining something deep and dark, I usually recommend going with the least expensive wood you can get away with. Have you looked into alder? Not the most durable stuff but will save you a bundle. It also stains well with a little help. I'd recommend Charles Neil's Blotch Control formula: http://www.thewoodwhisperer.com/articles/blotch-control-to-rule-them-all/

Also keep in mind, dark color doesn't always happen in one coat. You may want to get yourself a little walnut colored water-based dye and use that as a pre-coat. Sort of like I did in this video: http://www.thewoodwhisperer.com/videos/deep-red-mahogany-finish/

I'd start with the Charles Neil stuff, follow up with the dye, then move to the gel stain. Should allow you to get a deep rich color on just about any wood species.

As for acclimation, I no longer worry about that much. I saw a video from Glen Huey a while back that suggested all you really need to do is make sure you mill the wood evenly on both sides. Any excess moisture is lost evenly and the board doesn't warp. I have found this to be true so far and that's generally what I recommend now.

Best of luck!

[Beechwood Chip]

I just wanted to add that in the western US people seem to use alder as an inexpensive wood for painting or a dark stain. In the east we generally use poplar. I have no idea what they do in other countries.

[Klausbird]

Thank you both very much for your replies. That gives me a few options to try out. I will test out your staining suggestions and look into the Poplar and Alder. I've been getting blades sharpened, tuning up my equipment, and fine tuning my design. I'm quite excited about this project, advice from all of you helps a lot, and sets my mind at ease about some of the unknowns!

[Klausbird]

Another related question. Before I apply these dyes and gel stains, is there a disadvantage to sanding the wood to a very fine grit sandpaper? You know what I mean? Is there a sanding limit, after which the dye or stain will not apply properly? Reason I ask is that I seem to read from various sources that they recommend sanding to 320. When I did my test pieces, I sanded to 600. Can this inhibit the dyes or stains in some way?

[Eric.]

If you burnish the wood it can somewhat inhibit the stain from soaking in. Some people sand end grain to a much higher grit because it soaks up so much more stain than face grain, therefore, theoretically, it can prevent the end grain from becoming much darker than the face grain...which will almost always be the case when face and end grain are sanded to equal grits. I don't really stain much of anything, so I'm only speaking from second-hand experience.

IMO sanding to 600 is unnecessary...320 is plenty sufficient. I don't even go that high until finishing. I believe Marc stops at 180 most the time.

[Klausbird]

Thanks. That's kind of the impression I've been getting from what I've read. Makes me feel better too; no need to unnecessarily waste time, especially on one of my least favorite tasks!

[ronk]

Hi Klaus

I'm a hobbyist woodworker that works primarily in pine or around here SPF (spruce, pine, fir), so I do a lot of staining. I haven't tried dyes so this will be about stains. There are 3 things besides species of wood that determine the darkness of your stain:

1. How high a grit you sand to (the higher the grit, the lighter the stain will be)

2. How long you let the stain set before wiping (the longer you let it set, the darker it will be)

3. How much you wipe (the more you wipe, the lighter it will be)

I agree with Eric on sanding. I have never gone above 320 for my final sanding. If my end-grain will show, I always sand it to 320. IMO, sanding to 600 grit and then staining, is a waste of stain because you will wipe most of it off. I don't use 600 grit until my last coat of finish and then only enough to remove any dust nibs.

I hope this has been of some help.

[Klausbird]

Ronk,

Sorry, I haven't been back to the forum in a while, and therefore missed your reply.

Thank you very much for your suggestions. That will definitely help me with my staining process. I will do some more testing with your suggestions, and hopefully get the dark results I'm looking for. Thanks again.