How do I get a dark almost-opaque finish?

[Doug Hobkirk]

I repair and restore furniture that's donated to a non-profit that recycles household goods. So I do quite a bit of refinishing even though I am a novice. I feel like the answer to my question should be obvious, but it has sure stumped me.

A lot of furniture, old and recent, has a finish that seems like a cross between a stain (I can see some of the wood grain through it) and a paint (it is much darker than I can get with any stain, even mixing ebony and dark walnut). Yesterday I sanded the top of a somewhat nice pine coffee table that looked almost like a dark mahogany - the knots were essentially invisible. After sanding I cannot even begin to simulate the prior effect with Minwax or gel stains - there is a large contrast between the knots and the grain and there is a lot of variability in the color on the grain. If I seal it with shellac before staining, I get a much lighter final finish. And the darkest stain I can apply is not nearly as dark as the original finish.

I have run into this on numerous items, most dark, but also on an amber maple chest (dark swirls in the grain did not show through the original finish). This applies to pieces whether or not the surface is a veneer.

"Toning" seems like a possible answer, but I believe that toning is used for subtle color changes.

Help? Thanks.

[Todd Burch]

Toning will work, and so will tinting lacquer. Tinted lacquers are very popular among cheap furniture production shops. Color and finish in one step, good hide, and fast dry as well. If you scrape some of the shiny finish off and see uncolored raw wood, that's mostl likely what you have.

Todd

[Danny Thompson]

Have you tried a water-based dye?

[John Schreiber]

I think a lot of old furniture was "stained" with paint. I've done it with milk paint. You apply the paint with a rag and you can vary the transparency by how thick a layer you leave. You can also wipe part of it back off with a clean rag.

[Prashun Patel]

I'm with John. You can use paint. I've done it with oil based paint, that's been thinned with mineral spirits to reduce the opacity.

[Keith Hooks]

I'm actually trying to do the same thing to an area of our entertainment center that one of the dogs chewed on as a puppy. I've routed down the section and replaced it with a strip of solid wood, but I'm having a tough time matching it. I've found a stain that matches the color perfectly but I can't manage to build it up thick enough so the grain barely shows through. Wouldn't be MY choice of finishing, but that's how we bought it. I'm used to using oils and shellac as a finish and don't have any experience with stains.

[Todd Burch]

To what grit did you sand the new strip of wood to? If a typical 220, try 150, or 100 grit to add more scratches that will hold more pigment.

Todd

[Howard Acheson]

The finish that was most often used on older factory consumer type furniture was a sprayed on finish. The color is in the finish and the finish is a tinted lacquer. Multiple coats are sprayed on to get to the color they want and then a final clear coat applied.

This type of finish allows defects to be hidden in cheap woods.