Mixing a custom color?

[John Gregory]

My wife finally found a stain color she likes for when we re-do our kitchen. A Ginger stain on Maple closely matched to the attached picture. In searching the internet, I have found lots of places selling ginger maple cabinets but I would like to find a recipe so we can mix the stain ourselves.

I know that maple is difficult to get a stain color due to the soft parts of the woods that may blotch. In our woodworking hobby, staining and finishing is our weak point for sure. If anyone has a suggestion on the steps to get a uniform color and finish like the one in the attached picture, we would be very grateful.

[glenn bradley]

We have many finishers on here better than I but, when I color maple (which I try to avoid) I first select pieces with as little figure as I can get; similar to your example. I then seal the surface with a very thin dewaxed shellac and then use Transtint dye dissolved in alcohol.

When I custom mix colors, I learned early on that if I don't keep track of the mixture, I am sure to come up with a color I love and have difficulty duplicating. Therefore, even if I am just jotting chicken-scratch on the benchtop, I keep track of my mix.

Also, when building test boards, be sure to use the same planing, scraping, sanding, whatever, protocol as your target piece. Surface prep can make major differences in a look of a colorant. Oh yeah, spraying light coats seems to promote evenness of absorption as well but I generally pad.

[John Gregory]

Thanks Glenn,
Those are good tips. We have not used dyes yet, so now might be a time to test our hand at dyes.
Oh.....My wife is worried that shellac will cause the maple to yellow more than normal over time. Is that the case if one uses clear shellac?

[Rick Hall]

That looks more like a lightly toned clear coat than an actual stain to me (at least from the picture I see on my screen), which would make the finish process pretty easy if you are planning on spraying these.

Rick.

[John Gregory]

Good point Rick, I had not thought of that

[glenn bradley]

Thanks Glenn,
Those are good tips. We have not used dyes yet, so now might be a time to test our hand at dyes.
Oh.....My wife is worried that shellac will cause the maple to yellow more than normal over time. Is that the case if one uses clear shellac?

Dyes have made me a much better finisher (actually I think they are just more forgiving :)). On the Seal Coat I have not noticed a yellowing when I use it as a topcoat which you probably will not do in a kitchen. My recommendation was to use it as a sealer so; it will be really, really thin and under the colorant. Its purpose is to even out thte absorption of the color. I assume you would then topcoat with something that can take the abuse of a kitchen.

[John Gregory]

Do you spray the tinted stain and topcoat?


Dyes have made me a much better finisher (actually I think they are just more forgiving :)). On the Seal Coat I have not noticed a yellowing when I use it as a topcoat which you probably will not do in a kitchen. My recommendation was to use it as a sealer so; it will be really, really thin and under the colorant. Its purpose is to even out thte absorption of the color. I assume you would then topcoat with something that can take the abuse of a kitchen.

[Jim Becker]

If you use an alcohol soluble dye and want to seal with shellac you really need to spray the shellac to avoid moving your dye around...and alcohol soluble dyes are also best sprayed because they flash off so quickly it's hard to get an even effect across more than a very small workpiece. Personally, I tend to use water soluble dye, seal with de-waxed shellac and then move on to whatever comes next. Whether I brush or spray the shellac, it doesn't alter the dye coverage.

[Scott Holmes]

I use alcohol based dyes the most because they are very fast drying. I spray the dye and the first seal coat of shellac.

If I am brushing the seal coat of shellac, I use a water (only) soluable dye. Water dyes are a bit more color fast and more forgiving to apply.

Shellac is color fast; none of the shellacs yellow over time.

Polyurthane resin and phenolic resin varnishes yellow over time. Alkyd resin varnish stay very light amber.