Help With Matching White Washed Birch

[Mike Shields]

I'm having chairs made, but will be making the table myself. The wood is birch that is white washed. I would like to finish the table to as close as possible to the chairs. What I've seen on the 'net IRT to white wash don't appear close to the chairs.

The chair pic is attached. Any help getting me me started with a product/solution would be much appreciated.

Mike

[Doug Hepler]

Mike,

See the thread below https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?263294-I-stink-at-color-matching. I'm not going to rehash all of the excellent advice except to say that the color of your finish may not change with age the same as the finish used on the chairs. I recommend that you get a supply of the finish used on the chairs from whomever is making them. If that is not practical, perhaps you can get identifying information (finish type, tint, name) for it. Otherwise, if a very close match would be important to you, go for a contrasting color that harmonizes well with the color of the chairs or the cushions.

Doug

[Wayne Lomman]

Sand to no more than 150. Apply by hand a white pigment stain rubbed well into the grain and then finished off lightly with the grain. Apply a clear coat. Light sand. Apply a white tinted toner to adjust the white to match the chair. If you need to adjust the base colour, tint the toner slightly with green or red. Apply a clear coat. Light sand. Apply a final coat.

This is the bare bones procedure. As you are making the table, keep scraps from the top and sand them the same as the top so that you can test this procedure before you start.

I am doing a limed white job at the moment. It has to be indestructible so I am doing the white stain using epoxy paint and then applying epoxy clear over. The overall procedure stays the same.

Look back a couple of weeks on this forum and you will find plenty of discussion about colour matching as Doug pointed out. Cheers

[Mike Shields]

I recommend that you get a supply of the finish used on the chairs from whomever is making them.
Doug

I contacted the chair manufacturer and was given the names of companies that can obtain their finishing products. The stain is sold in 1/4, 1/2 and full liters.

Because I'm not familiar with stains, either pigments or dye, I have no real idea on what quantity I should order: the table is 2064 sq inches.

Can someone please give a rough idea of the quantity I can reasonably expect to use?

Thank you,

Mike

[Doug Hepler]

Mike,

Most oil stains cover 400-600 sq ft. per gallon. We don't know the coverage of this particular stain. Depending on how expensive it is, I'd get a 1/2 liter. It should be plenty (I estimate a pint will be 3 times as much as you will need for the surface area you quoted.) Don't forget the legs and aprons. Also, try to match the film coat (varnish or lacquer) at least by type. Most lacquers and varnishes have some yellow-orange tint to them and yellow with exposure to light, but at different rates. Finally, you should test the finish on scrap from the table lumber to see what it will look like when stained and finished.

Interesting (challenging) problem.

Doug

[John TenEyck]

Take the table and a chair to a pro finisher and have them match the finish. With no experience your chance of success is very low. No offense.

John