Hello, I started to refinish a pair of walnut end tables with Watco medium walnut stain. However with 3 coats on they still aren’t as dark as they were originally. The legs and spokes stayed much lighter than the rest of the table. Im thinking they are probably maple?
Do I just need to get a darker stain? Any input is helpful!
I attached a picture of my table and one with a similar finish to the original.
Replies
You can try using Watco Dark Walnut, or Watco Black Walnut and if that doesn't work then maybe using a dark gel stain would work. The dark gel stain would need a top coat to protect it like poly, lacquer, or shellac
You are probably right about the spokes. It appears the tops are veneer? Using oil stain is a problem here. Different woods used and veneer grain not matched. Probably dye stain used after original construction to better match/color the wood and veneer. At this point I also think dark gel stain is the way to proceed. You can leave the gel stain on a little longer on the lighter parts to try and match. Some gel stains have a small amount of poly in them so if you don't like the results remove what you have done soon.
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