Morning All,
I have never stained anything. I have made a chest out of red oak. Nothing to get excited about, but I am now wishing to stain it. I would love to stain this chest like the veneer on my hifi speakers: http://bellsouthpwp.net/j/o/joe6pack/ABC/DCP00484.JPG
My problem is that I spent about an hour or two looking at stain swatches at Home Depot almost a month ago and came up with ‘something’ I thought would be good. The color ID is Antique Red, and the product is Accents Water-based Wood-stain by Minwax.
I have now spent a week talking with Minwax, Home Depot, Lowes, and even my neighborhood Sherwin-Williams. The tin-base is available at HD/Lowes, but they do not know how to mix it. This is not a pre-mixed color, and this stain is semi-transparent.
Unfortunately, HD/Lowes do not have this particular product’s colors in their system, and Sherwin-Williams, who I am told owns Minwax, doesn’t sell Minwax water-based products (as I was told by my local SW dealer). So, after several conversations with Minwax, I provided HD with an 800# to Minwax’s Color Department, which HD called yesterday for the Antique Red color I was looking for.
Well, the formula they gave HD did not produce the desired end result while standing there in the store. In fact, looking at the Minwax brochure the formula pretty much mated (almost exactly, and perfectly to my eyes) of another colorm which was for another Minwax product. Well, one can of tint-base HD wasted …
Now, I am not a loyalist and I went to HD only out of convenience. Being that I know nothing of staining (anything), can someone offer a newbie some advice on how to best-match the above?
Replies
Red oak is one of the woods that takes dyes and stains well (blotching/splotching isn't a problem) though I've never been happy with the way that dyes color the large pores.
To match the finish on the speakers, I'd first dye the wood and then use a wiping stain over the dye. The dye will establish the "base" color in the wood and "pop" the grain and figure. The stain will add more color overall and get the pores as well. If you start with Minwax Red Oak as the stain, then you just need to choose the dye color that will provide the best match. Looking at the picture of the speaker, I'd say the dye should be reddish brown, bright red, or possibly bordeaux using the Transtint dye colors from HomeStead Finishing (click on the blue words to see the dye colors).
Try some samples to see which dye gives you the best match.
Paul
Dear 5th,
You can go to a HD or similar place, get some color cards of PAINTS (any kind) that you think are close to your chosen color, then at home, compare the cards with the actual color and pick the closest, or go back for more cards if none is close enough.
When close enough, go and have them MATCH the card with the stain of your choice, tested on a piece of scrap of actual wood.
HD and similar places do have matching of stains for some brands. When you go, you better consider it may take a little while, and might want to go on a slow day for them.
-mbl-
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