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I have asked three furniture makers about creating a built-in vanity table for the house we are building. I have seen a line of furniture by Baronet that is “espresso black” stained hard rock maple with frosted glass tops that I really like and would like the vanity to match or at least approach the same finish. The woodworkers I have talked to have never stained a wood with black and all of them have talked about blotching when using dark stains on maple. I am disappointed by this news but I still want it! Am I asking for the impossible? Is there a particular stain or a different wood that will take the black dye as smoothly and evenly as the Baronet furniture? Thanks for advice or opinion.
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No, you are not asking for the impossible. I have successfully stained hard and soft maple, and sycamore with water based black aniline dye applied by hand. Water based dyes have the advantage of being compatible with just about any following finish type. Following dying I usually apply black tinted polish. I usually (but not always) use a sprayed pre-cat lacquer with the added black dye supplied by the polish manufacturer. This way the dye is compatible with the polish.
I'm not familiar with Baronet furniture, but I'm rather assuming they are a mass producer. Mass producers tend to use spray finishes in preference to hand applied finishes so as to keep down cost, amongst other reasons, so the spray technique I outlined stands a pretty good chance of being able to emulate the original finish.
I guess I could add that I've also used oak, walnut, mahogany, beech, ash, and quite a few timbers I've forgotten as the basis for black stained furniture, sculpture bases, picture frames, and so on. Sliante.
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