Good morning to all:
I am working with a couple to design and build a bed from walnut. They want to match the color of their existing bedroom furniture, which was built 50+ years ago in the east. The color of their furniture is a medium brown, very rich in appearance, and similar to cherry with the rusty component. I have never seen walnut locally that is brown. What I see is a combination of light and dark greyish brown, purple, and some tan. It is quite dark after applying varnish.
So my question is: Is this color natural? A second question: Is the color of walnut affected by the method of drying? I could be seeing only kiln dried wood in local retail shops.
I plan to experiment with bleaching followed by coloring with stain or dye.
Thanks for any help or enlightenment you can provide.
Tom.
Replies
Sounds like natural color to me. Walnut is generally deep brown, with purple hi-lights, which may be accented by air-drying, with sapwood being much lighter in color. Commercial walnut is often steamed to darken the sapwood which removes some of the purple hi-lites.
Found the attached pic on the Web -- pretty typical.
View Image
Mike Hennessy
Pittsburgh, PA
Walnut lightens as it ages... so 50 year old walnut cannot be matched with new stock. Even if you had some fifty year old walnut each new surface exposed by the sanding/machining process would also need aging to match. I would explain the situation to the customers and make a sample by aging in sunlight for a week or two to show them what you can reasonably do to approximate a match.
Can't say much about changes over time, but I used Jeff Jewitt's TransTint dyes to even out some walnut for a frame that went to a friend. It was a rewarding experience, worked so well. Click here for a post and pictures. Note the two links at the end, to articles on the Homestead Finishing site providing important info about using the dyes.
Forestgirl,Thanks so much. Your pictures show a final result very close to my target. I have never used the transtints, but I am a fan of Jeff Jewitt.Best regards, Tom.
Tom,
If a pale yellow (diluted "maple") dye on your walnut is still too dark, the bleach (two part)first, then dye, route may be needed. I have done this successfully in matching colors in repairs to old walnut furniture. As others have noted, walnut will bleach out from sunlight, but it is a surface phenomenon.
Ray
Ray,
Thanks for your input. I have bleached one table top and the results were very pleasing. I think I can hit my target with some experimentation.Best regards, Tom.
Walnut takes bleaching very well (2-part bleach). My shop does a lot of kitchen cabs in bleached walnut. Use a really diluted solution of the bleach or you'll find yourself with wood that is lovely but far too light in color to match your old pieces. Go easy.
David Ring
http://www.touchwood.co.il/?id=1&lang=e
David,
Thanks for your input. Do you bleach and then finish without any stain or dye? My one bleached walnut table top did come out very light in color. I will experiment with a diluted mix.Best regards, Tom.
We make our own 2-part bleach, and use a strong mixture. Afterwards it just gets clear waterborne base coat and topcoat. The one strange thing you can sometimes get with bleached walnut is an area that is quite pink after bleaching, in contrast to most of the wood which is the color of "cafe au lait". It's not too common but it does appear sometimes. If you do run into this problem let me know; I can tell you how to deal with it effectively.David Ring
http://www.touchwood.co.il/?id=1&lang=e
Tom,
Walnut can be given an antique look by using shellac.
I use Bysaki buttons for the first coat or two, followed by
Blond applied in French Polish fasion.
This gives a rich brownish color yet still allows the depth of the
grain to show through.
Gene,
Thanks for the input. I actually had some thoughts about shellac, but didn't pursue it. Very nice piece. The color is beautiful.Tom.
Off the wall, but. Have you worked with Butternut (white walnut)? Dying it down may be easier than lightening up the walnut. Other than colour Black Walnut and Butternut are very very similar.
Work Safe, Count to 10 when your done for the day !!
Bruce S.
Bruce,
I have seen very little butternut out here. Not available in local yards. I agree, it is beautiful, and might work well. I now have a good amount of information from knots and also from Peter Gedrys, with whom I talked yesterday. My plan is to experiment with a diluted bleach followed by dyes and/or stains to approximate the color of "golden old walnut".thanks to all, Tom.
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