Matching finish on different woods

[Chad Easterling]

Hello,

Dear wife has asked me to build her a new dining room table. My local supply of "decent" wood is limited to red oak, poplar, clear pine and aspen. I don't do turning, so I am looking to order the table legs and apron from an online distributor. Their wood options are soft maple, red oak, knotty pine, hickory, alder, cherry, hard maple, mahogany, red birch, black walnut and lyptus.

The wife wants an "espresso" color (i.e. dark, rich chocolate brown) on the table. I'm in the process of trying to find a dye that matches that color.

First question- based on my available wood, which wood for the legs would most closely match one of my available woods once the dye is applied? I'm not really into oak, so I'm trying to avoid the red oak.
Second question- any suggestions on dye sources?

Thanks!
Chad

[Prashun Patel]

I'm surprised yr leg dealer doesn't have poplar legs. Poplar legs and top would be pretty easy to dye. However, of your 4 woods (I'm guessing home center sourced) the red oak will be the hardest and IMHO most durable for a dining table. The others - including poplar - will ding. For a rustic look it's not an issue, but for an espresso (and I'm guessing semi/more formal look, though, that might be problematic.

If you can find a source for white or red birch, that is another great option. It's hard, doesn't have too prominent grain, and takes dye reasonably well. It also has reasonably closed grain, so you can probably fill the pores well with whatever varnish you topcoat with. A lot of Canadel tables are made of birch.

As for dye, personally, I'd recommend Transtint concentrates. They're a tad more pricey than the powder, but they're less hassle to mix and don't require straining.

I did an espresso table recently out of birch and it was pleasant to work with (unless yr planing). To make the right color, it took a combination of medium brown and black tints. I tried mixing the brown and black, but in the end, I found it easier to apply the colors separately. I applied the brown as a basecoat first, and then black, applying successive coats until the correct darkness was achieved.

TEST!!!

[Chad Easterling]

My main opposition to the oak is the open grain. I've never tried to fill grain with a filler before, so I'm not sure how hard it is. DW does want a distressed look, so some dings aren't going to matter. I guess my main concern with the poplar for the top is the variations in color from almost white to gray and green. Just concerned if it would dye evenly.

[Scott Holmes]

The green will eventually become brown so it will not hurt the esspesso color much.

I usually mix my dyes to the color I want, then apply... adding another coat of dye after the base coat/color is OK too.

For a distressed look a gel stain glaze aftr the dye has been sealed may also work out just right.

As stated practice your ENTIRE finish process on a suffiently large enough sample piece of each type of wood you plan to use.

[Henry Ambrose]

Chad, your location shows you in North Alabama - there ought to be large selection of hardwoods available to you without too much trouble.

Whatever you do, make the table out of one wood species. Of all the woods you mention I think soft maple would be the best and should be readily available across the southeast U. S. I think poplar will dent too easily to maintain a nice looking top surface, but if distressed overcomes that matter then go ahead with it.

[Chad Easterling]

I am in North Alabama. There are some local sawmills around, but catching them when they are open is difficult on good days...... There is a supplier in Scottsboro about 1 hour away. Problem is not much info on their website and the email replies are curt and useless.

Thanks for the suggestions on the wood.