Replies

1. 
   goldenrectangle | Jan 14, 2020 08:20am | #1

   It seems that Rubberwood is rather light in color, but that it takes stains and dyes easily. You best option is to come up with a stain color that you like. I don't know if you have access to any of the common commercial stains like Minwax, but they would work well. To get as dark as you want it, you may need several coats of stain. I'm told that rubberwood will warp easily, so I suggest using an oil based stain, not a water based. If you cannot get a regular wood stain, you can make one by thinning oil based paint with turpentine. Brush it on, let it soak in, and wipe it off. Definitely do some tests on scrap pieces first.

2. 
   waterhead | Jan 14, 2020 09:33am | #2

   I have had very good results using van Dyke crystals to dye various woods brown - although I have no experience with rubber wood. I got the most even results when I sprayed the solution. You can achieve a range of shades from very light to very dark by repeated application and/or by making up the solution in different concentrations; so somewhere in there you should be able to find a shade to make your wood appear more uniform in colour.

   If you have to import stuff they would be pretty economical as they are sold as a granular solid that you make up with water and you don't need a large amount to make a good volume of dye, plus they are cheap to start with.

   If you can't get even results with a dye you will probably need to turn to a grain filler and pigmented stain.

3. 
   sprog21 | Jan 15, 2020 07:09am | #3

   Hi Waterhead, Thanks for that, I will give it a go. I will have to import it, I think, I definitely won't get it locally. It will be a while before I get around to using it, I don't do anything fast now at my age, but I will llet you know how I go on