Hi all,
I am just about done building a two drawer file cabinet. The carcass is made with hard maple from a dresser a friend was going to throw away. Hey, it was free wood, already glued up into large panels and I just had to reincarnate it! The trouble is that I only had enoungh of the old maple for the cabinet. I had to use new stock to make the drawer fronts. The old maple is a beautiful golden color which I highlighted using boiled linseed oil. The new stock is a pukey silver white color. How do I make the two match?
Thanks,
Darren
“Come on guys, what do you need, a refresher course? It’s all ball bearings these days.”
Replies
You may have two different species of maple, perhaps soft maple and sugar maple. The silvery color may be oxidization which can be removed by planing or sanding.
If you can take a small sample of it, apply linseed oil and let dry.If it's still not right, add oil stain, say Minwax Golden Oak, which imparts a bright yellow. Test other colors until the desired color is reached. Then topcoat.
If you need to remove the gray streaks, use wood bleach or regular bleach.Wash off before staining. This may not remove all color but should diminish color.
Edited 4/23/2004 8:47 am ET by JACKPLANE
Darren,
Try diluted aniline dye, waterbased or NGR type. Test on scraps, adjust as needed. This can take a number of tries to get right. And/or orange shellac as a wash coat to give a little more color. Is the surface you are matching the original surface that has been stripped, or is it a new, planed and sanded surface? (There may be traces of the old stain still in the wood.) Start by approximating the color of the old wood before you put the oil on it, and adjust from there.
Cheers,
Ray
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