So I have a customer that i have made a kitchen island top for. The island top is a piece of a reclaimed bowling alley lane. It is about 2.5″ thick and solid hard maple. I’ve finished it with a red mahogany stain and it looks great.
The customer is wanting some butcher block countertops to go with/ accent the island top. Normally I’d just match the two from the same wood but I can’t match it exactly due to the age and distressed look of the bowling lane. What would be the best stain/wood combination to use to make the two compliment each other?
Replies
The obvious answer is hard maple with the same stain. The tough bit to replicate is the years of oil on the bowling lane. Maybe try heating then oiling the maple before staining? Other distress can be added with chains, rolling pins, rocks and hammers. Good luck.
I have used the power of the sun a few times to get a nice match on older maple. I've done it with good success on maple and cherry. I always make a few test pieces, though. You can overdo it in cherry and maple easily.
I'm also doing something similar on a current project made of QS mahogany... I'm not trying to match anything existing, though. After putting on the finish, I'll be aging it on the back patio to get the colors to burn in a little more and show off the figure.
Thank you for the responses. Will definitely give those things a try
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