Wood staining - how to?

[davegsm82]

My house is primarily filled with 'Corona' (no Arcing in sight) furniture, which is pine and has some kind of wood stain on it. When we got the furniture it had a sort of oily-waxy feel to it.

I'm now making a shelving unit to be a feature on a wall and I would like to get it to look the same.

I've bought pine skirting boards to make the unit, the wood is by contrast very 'yellowy' but at least it looks like a similar grain. Can anyone advise what sort of wood stain might have been used on the original units? I've considered trying some danish oil on a scrap cut-off but I don't think it will give the effect I'm after.

This is a picture of the type of furniture I'm talking about.

   

[Mark Hennessy]

We have some of that. Yes, I think it's waxed rather than oiled or varnished. As to which shade, you'd have to experiment a bit.

OT, but I really wouldn't advise putting wax on joinery. The previous idiot owners of this Victorian house stripped a lot of the skirtings/architraves/etc back to the bare wood and finished it with a clear wax. This makes it near-impossible to paint. Of course, the Victorians would never had pine on display - it would have been painted or disguised as a more expensive wood. Our house was the latter. On the bits that weren't stripped/waxed, you find that the many subsequent layers of gloss paint come away easily from the original finish, revealing the stains and varnish underneath. It's really amazing to see how they achieved the look of dark oak...

[reset]

My house is primarily filled with 'Corona' (no Arcing in sight) furniture, which is pine and has some kind of wood stain on it. When we got the furniture it had a sort of oily-waxy feel to it.

I'm now making a shelving unit to be a feature on a wall and I would like to get it to look the same.

I've bought pine skirting boards to make the unit, the wood is by contrast very 'yellowy' but at least it looks like a similar grain. Can anyone advise what sort of wood stain might have been used on the original units? I've considered trying some danish oil on a scrap cut-off but I don't think it will give the effect I'm after.

This is a picture of the type of furniture I'm talking about.

Sounds like shellac would be a good candidate. Check the color chart on this page.

http://homesteadfinishingproducts.com/pr...s/shellac/

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[reset]

Briwax is other finish which resembles your.

https://briwax.com/wp-content/uploads/20...0color.jpg

[pwdrive]

Looking at the growth rings and the distance between the nodes it smacks of Monterey Pine (Pinus radiata) if it is you might be able to get some from your nearest homegrown sawmill, I used to saw tons of that stuff from sawlogs when I had the sawmill, it dries out very well without too much warping and dries out very quickly compared to other timbers, it was underrated for years, mainly consigned to pallet wood, major world sources used to be or might still be South Africa, Chili and New Zealand, quite common down here with some huge specimens.

Good luck.

Lawrence.

[davegsm82]

We have some of that. Yes, I think it's waxed rather than oiled or varnished. As to which shade, you'd have to experiment a bit.

It's definitely not varnished, that's about as much as I can tell. The original waxy feel isn't there any more, which made me think of oil, combined with the smell when it was fresh.

Briwax is other finish which resembles your.

https://briwax.com/wp-content/uploads/20...0color.jpg

I've just had a look, yes, there are some there which definitely resemble the shade of this, I think I'd have to get some samples though as I think the finish depends strongly on the type of wood it's applied to. I'm not much of a cabinet restorer, in fact I've only relly ever done 2, my Cossor set and a Wartime Civilian set, which regrettably came out looking terrible after I tried the Danish oil on it, I need to strip it back and re-do it. 

It's unfortunate about the Civilian set as the case is likely to be made from cheap pine (there are stories of them being made from old pallets at the time) and i recon the finish on this new wood would come up much the same.

Looking at the growth rings and the distance between the nodes it smacks of Monterey Pine (Pinus radiata) if it is you might be able to get some from your nearest homegrown sawmill, I used to saw tons of that stuff from sawlogs when I had the sawmill, it dries out very well without too much warping and dries out very quickly compared to other timbers, it was underrated for years, mainly consigned to pallet wood, major world sources used to be or might still be South Africa, Chili and New Zealand, quite common down here with some huge specimens.

Good luck.

Lawrence.

I already have the wood, although I haven't started building yet. The stuff I have here has a similar grain and overall appearance to the furniture, just very much fresh wood at the minute so I need to come up with something to get it looking the same

[Craig]

Matching colour and matt-ness is a tricky thing that takes a lot of experience (and/or trial and error!) to get right.

Another problem is that both wood and whatever it is finished in changes colour with time. So the additional complication is that you might get a decent match on day 1, but a year or two later it looks quite different. It is less of a problem if a synthetic varnish is used (which it doesn't sound like yours is), but an oil finish (Danish oil, Teak oil etc) or wax finish definitely age, and change colour. These finishes are semi-porous too and allow oxygen to get to the wood underneath, which is why that changes colour too. These effects are why older furniture has that sought-after patina of age.

Which is actually of no help to you at all ......

[reset]

 I need to come up with something to get it looking the same

If this link works for you it will lead to a wood magazine article on finish ID. If it is shellac it will dissolve in alcohol. Water base will dissolve in laquer thinner. Etc.

http://www.woodmagazine.com/materials-gu...hat-anyway

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