Replies

1. 
   SgianDubh | Dec 17, 2002 09:12am | #1

   Paint-- any prefered colour? Ha, ha. Hides all differences in colour underneath.

   Or, bleach it all white and build up your prefered colour from there.

   Or, spray (or possibly wipe) on a dye to get a general base colour. Add a barrier coat (possibly) of a dewaxed shellac-- Zinnser make a product called SealCoat designed for this purpose. Then sneak up on your desired final sheen and colour tone using tinted polishes. Aniline dyes can be added to polishes to get depth and uniformity. Spirit anilines with oil based products, and water anilines with water based polishes. Universal tinting colours (UTC's) can also be added to the polish for colour adjustment. And finish makers such as ML Campbell supply a range of compatible dying, staining, and polishing products.

   If you're ultimately looking for a uniformly pale finish, I think I'd go for bleaching it all to start with-- but the bleaching process can be a bit tedious, especially if you have lots of solid timber panels-- they're usually best bleached and at least partially dyed and polished before assembly into the frame, which also needs treatment somewhat similar-- this might be a job where the panels are best held in with a removable (nailed, screwed) inside bead.  The A,B solution does a pretty good job of bleaching, and it gives you a fairly uniformly 'white' background to build up from.

   The  PVA type glues, yellow or white, aren't  especially fond of the bleach, and they can show up under the polish later.  Slainte.

   Some stuff I've made.
1. 
   dperfe | Dec 17, 2002 05:40pm | #4

   Thanks, I'm going to give it a try with the A-B solution then build up the color with a water based powder dye.  I don't have a sprayer so I can't use the alcohol based dye.  Also, what about using Oxalic acid after the A-B solution, in an effort to take out more undesireable coloration? 

   Thanks,

   DP 

1. 
   SgianDubh | Dec 17, 2002 05:51pm | #5

   I don't expect that you'd have too much variation from an off-white after one or maybe two applications of the A-B solution.

   Oxalic acid I find more useful for slight bleaching and for localised stain removal-- ink and the like. Slainte.Some stuff I've made.

1. 
   ChiefsFa2 | Dec 17, 2002 06:33pm | #6

   I have had some experience with maple. One thing is that you will have color variations that go from near white(no grain) to grey and browns. If it is hard maple, stains are a bit of a challenge but I have recently had excellent results with minwax water based  but you have to use the conditioner first! The variations actually do not detract from the final product in my estimation at all. And for door panels, Birch plywood is a dead ringer for the maple after staining.Wine is God's way of capturing the sun.

1. 
   dperfe | Dec 17, 2002 11:48pm | #7

   CF, You said

   "I have recently had excellent results with minwax water based  but you have to use the conditioner first!"

   What conditioner?

   -DP

2. 
   ChiefsFa2 | Dec 18, 2002 01:36am | #8

   Minwax water based stains have an accompanying product called minwax wood conditioner...imagine that!....its next to the stain at the storeWine is God's way of capturing the sun.

2. 
   dperfe | Dec 20, 2002 10:29pm | #12

   Sgian & everyone,

   I have also found deep stains going cross grain left from where the spacers were when it was bundled.  The stain is too deep in the wood to be able to just plain it away.  I was actually hoping not to bleach, as was suggested a few posts back the wood trully does have a nice quality or natural beauty with the color variations etc and ocassional knot here and there. I've been warming to the idea of just leaving it as is.  But these stains are very disconcerting, they definately detract from the natural beauty.  Any suggestions?  Perhaps localised bleaching, and if so which one?  Or does this pretty much kill the idea of leaving it as is with no stain or bleach. 

   -DP  

1. 
   SgianDubh | Dec 21, 2002 12:20am | #13

   Hmm, sticker stain. Mould most likely, and probably deep too?

   My modus operandi in that circumstance, assuming the cabinets, doors, etc., are made and I'm facing the problem? Bleach the he-ll out of it and build up my colour of choice from there-- anything from a pale off white to deepest black with everything else in between as options.

   My number one choice would be to use the sticker stained stuff in another job(s) as hidden structural parts and get new stuff with preferable characteristics, and that is what I would do if I was making the cabinets. But if you're stuck with the stuff, you just have to make the best you can of it, ha, ha. Been there, done that, got the T shirt, etc.. Slainte.Some stuff I've made.

2. 
   dperfe | Dec 28, 2002 12:35am | #16

   The bleach seems to work pretty well, not great but good enough.  I think I will probably still have to use some stain.  The mold stains were practically unoticeable under a light brownish dye I used on my test pieces.

   -DP

3. 
   Marcello | Dec 21, 2002 10:03am | #14

   Is there a chance you could take a picture of the wood spread out and lying on the ground and post it?  I'd be curious to see how much variance in colors you have.  With all the wood you purchased you can be somewhat selective as to what pieces can be used for certain locations - door panels, rails, backs, etc.

   Marcello

4. 
   dperfe | Dec 28, 2002 12:30am | #15

   The color variations really arn't too bad. 

   -DP

2. 
   Marcello | Dec 17, 2002 09:13am | #2

   I guess you are looking for the uniform, clear appearance.  I am not sure about staining maple, never done it.  But have you considered using all the different colors you found as part of the design?  Maybe by taking advantage of having the slightly different colors you can produce a kitchen which is far more impressive than one with uniform colors.  Lay out the boards in different arrangement to see which ones go together better, which ones are for panels and which ones are for stiles.  Play around with it first before you decide on a stain.

3. 
   Alan | Dec 17, 2002 03:53pm | #3

   DP,

   You might also think of using toners.  With moderate application of the lighter hues, in addition to evening out the color, they obscure the grain to degree (a good thing if some of it isn't pretty).

   Alan

4. 
   vacabby | Dec 18, 2002 04:23am | #9

   Do you have to have a single color to your cabinets?   There is no rule regarding this that I have read.   I don't know what style of cabinet you want to build but as long as it is not a real formal look then let the color changes run as they may.   If you are building a door, keep some uniformity in that door and surrounding frame material.   If they vary greatly, and the inconsistancy carries throughout the kitchen, what's wrong with that.   If your cabinets are not formal in nature the varying degrees of light and darkness will create a truly unique set of cabinets.   You are envisioning a set of cabinets like those you have seen in somebody's showroom or someone else's home.  It's your home and your showroom.   What's wrong with making a set of cabinets that look different than others ?  I personally think you may have stumbled on a great deal in a lumber purchase and would use it as best you can and build a great looking conversation piece for your home.   In my area everyone's cabinets are red oak or cherry.  My goodness, is this all these cabinet makers have in the line of imagination?   I built a set of Ash cabinets (Shaker Style) and a matching Greene and Greene Style Dining Table and Chairs.    I have since built at least 10 sets of Ash cabinets for folks that have seen our kitchen.   If your is not yet dimensioned please don't give up on it.   You may have a really great stack of lumber there that you work with and give you great result.   Good luck with your project.   I wish you well.

   JB

1. 
   dperfe | Dec 18, 2002 05:50pm | #10

   Thanks for all the great feedback people !

   -DP

2. 
   Marcello | Dec 19, 2002 02:30am | #11

   jb, that was exactly my point.  As an analogy I wish we could all realize the beauty of every knot or imperfection in a piece of wood - but then all the cheap wood we can get today may turn out to be too expensive.  And I don't mean woodworkers, I mean society as a whole.  An example of this is when shopping malls get built: for the most part developers will flatten rolling hills and cover running streams because it makes for easier parking.  The landscape is not used to the design's advantage, it merely gets shaped to what the building looks like.  I share your philosophy on the use of wood.

   Merry Christmas