Replies

1. 
   PaulBinCT | May 23, 2006 07:10pm | #1

   Bueller? Bueller?

   (a shameless bump)

2. 
   vonmagnuson | May 23, 2006 08:03pm | #2

   You may want to look into the finishes that Heywood-Wakefield used on some of thier blonde furniture.  I refinished a set of tables a while back and found the finish to be interesting.  It held the base color of the wood but really blended the differnces between 2 differently colored peices of wood.  I believe that I read that they used a clear lacuer(sp) with a pigment.  It may be worth looking into.  At least the technique.  You may be able to find poly based stuff that will do the same thing.

3. 
   ring | May 23, 2006 08:59pm | #3

   Speaking in general, you don't want any kind of penetrating stain, because it will accentuate the differences in grains between the species.  Go with whatever kind of lacquer you want, water-borne polyurethane is fine, using tinting colors in the first coats to get the honey color you want.  Do it gradually, "sneaking up" on the color with each coat, not trying to get it right on the first layer.  I prefer keeping the final coat clear.

   DR

1. 
   PaulBinCT | May 23, 2006 09:11pm | #4

   Thanks guys, that gets me off to a good start.  Ring... can you give me a for instance of a readily avilable non penetrating stain? Something "Borgable"? I was thinking of using a gel stain since it would be less messy for the faces of the cabinets which are in place... are any of these non penetrating that you are aware of? 

   Thanks in advance for the help... hope I can return the favor some time!

   PaulB

1. 
   ring | May 24, 2006 07:29am | #7

   Take JP's advice on what might be readily available.  I'm on the other side of the world and don't have the foggiest idea of what brands are on your market.

   DR

4. 
   Floss | May 24, 2006 02:19am | #5

   You can use any water based dye to make a tinted poly.

   If you want to add the dye to the poly directly then Transtint dyes from homestead finishing are good.

   Mixol tints are good as well. They have a broad range of colors and are much less expensive than the Transtint.

   UTC's (universal tinting colorants) I buy the "TintsAll" brand at my local hardware store.

   Lockwood Dyes are powders that are soluble in water and they have a wide range of really nice colors. I use them quite a bit. #143 Medium Amber Maple will work well for you. However you must dissolve the powder first in water then add to the poly for best dispersion of the color.

   All of these are readily available on the web and would only take a couple of days to get so don't limit yourself to the big boxes.

   Here are the sites.

   http://www.homesteadfinishing.com Transtint

   http://www.kingdomrestorations.com Mixol

   http://www.sheffieldbronze.com TintsAll

   http://www.wdlockwood.com Lockwood dyes

   J.P.

   http://www.jpkfinefurniture.com
1. 
   PaulBinCT | May 24, 2006 03:03am | #6

   Thanks JP I'll look into going that route!

2. 
   BG | May 24, 2006 01:55pm | #8

   JP,

   I bought a small container of the Mixol but can't find any info on the ratio of mixol to whatever to achieve specific results.

   For instance, usually my projects are fairly small and about 8oz. of trans-tint mixture is more than adequate (ie. 1/2 teaspoon of trans, 8 oz. of water or alcohol). I'd like to add a bit of yellow mixol to brighten the Trans mixture. I could add a drop at a time of yellow and compare on wood....but there is a lot of different Mixol colors..this could get expensive. Any suggestions? 

1. 
   Floss | May 24, 2006 02:14pm | #9

   I usually just add a few drops at a time until I am satisfied with the color.However if you are looking to be specific I would thimk of using the same ratio of dye to water/alcohol but reduce the amount of dye to around 25% of the primary color.So in your case, if you used 1/2 teaspoon then try using 1/8 of your second color and see how it works.Also I will use a brighter color first on the wood, like yellow, then put a second coat of the darker stain on top. Even when I do this I will cut the first coat by 50% then see if I need more color before moving on.This way the dyes are mixed and I am not making a new color each time I want to stain something. Experimentation is key, but write down your results so that you will have the recipe when you need it.J.P.http://www.jpkfinefurniture.com

1. 
   BG | May 24, 2006 05:15pm | #10

   Jp,
   Thanks, I never thought of doing them in sequence, I'll try it.