Matching finish of different woods

[Mark Hultzapple]

Hi everyone,
First time poster here. I am currently making a swinging cradle for the first grand child. I built the cradle out of soft maple and used craft store white wood dowels for the side and end panels. I'm concerned about matching the finish between the different woods. I have been rather naive about the complexity of finishes until reading everyone's ideas. As I read previous posts on 1:5 ratio white glue to water vs pre-stain conditioner, oil stain vs. dye, shellac vs poly vs lacquer, I'm starting to get concerned. I would like a dark cherry to mahogany color (to match other furniture in the room) with a subtle satin repairable finish. My biggest concern is the differences of wood and how they react to stains and finishes. Other than using a pre-stain conditioner to prevent blotching what should I be doing to ensure matching the cradle components? Thanks in advance for any assistance offered. Mark

[Steve Schoene]

Aliline dye mixed with water works better than oil stains to both reducing blotching and to give different woods the same color. It might be hard to achieve a dark enough color using pigmented stains, especially after using a pre-stain conditioner. With the dye you don't use the pre-stain conditioner. Then after the dye has established the basic color you can add depth to the finish by sealing with dewaxed shellac and applying a pigmented oil stain as a toner. This will further pull disparate wood colors together. For a top coat you can continue on with the shellac, or shift to a wipe on varnish, either mixed yourself by thinning a good varnish such as Behlen Rockhard, or pre-made such as Waterlox varnish. The Original/Sealer gives a very nice mellow gloss finish.

[Mark Hultzapple]

Thanks for the response to my post. I will give your suggestions a try with my scraps to see how it goes. Thanks again
Mark