I wonder if anybody has any ideas on this. I’m building a bar out of standard red oak and plan on finishing it with a very dark stain. For the top, I was considering another hardwood with a contrasting color.
My hardwood dealer has access to some exotics and all domestic lumber. I’d like to use something that’s not crazy expensive. As an alternative, I have about 8 feet of red oak butcher block top. I know it doesn’t contrast, but would that be a better choice?
Any ideas on what I might want to use?
Thanks!
Replies
Depending on how dark you stain the oak, oiled black walnut is quite dark and the smoother grain contrasts nicely with oak.
You might also try using all red oak then use contrasting stains on different sections.
I made this cabinet a couple of years ago and used contrasting stains just for fun. The doors and drawer fronts were easy. The top is oak ply banded with solid wood edges. I ran the edges down the saw making a small rabbett before I glued them to the plywood. I used blue tape to control the stain "bleed over" - keeping it in the rabbett. When the stain was dry, I used a fine tip permanent marker to blacken the rabbett and hide the bleed over.
Same subject, second post - lol. I couldn't edit my earlier post and add another picture.
This dresser was made from birch plywood with alder trim. The whole thing was stained with a "natural" stain then finished with water based polyurethane. A few months later, I made a mirror frame for it but never got a picture of the whole thing.
I like walnut as well i have it on my office counter top bull nose edge and a maple top. attached to red oak cabinets. I also use brass flat head screws as an accent in the walnut, it looks very good.
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled