Darkening Walnut

[Jim Jones]

I am building a pair of end tables from American Walnut (first experience with walnut) and my boss (read wife :D) wants it to be darker than I get with just shellac or BLO, but I really like the appearance of the grain with shellac or BLO without stain. BTW, I am limited to wiping and/or brush.

I have experimented a bit by applying Crystalac transparent water-based pore filler, sanding lightly, then I applied TransTint Dark Walnut (TT DW) dye stain in distilled water. I followed that by a washcoat of unwaxed clear Seal Coat. It wasn't quite dark enough so I applied a couple of toner coats of TT DW. This just seemed to obscure the grain pop I started out with.

My current thinking to retain the grain is one of the two sequences below:
Seq. A:
Start by rubbing in a very small amount of BLO;
Apply the TT DW/RM mix, maybe twice;
Use a spray can of Seal Coat to put on a couple of light coats (so I can begin wiping and not partially wipe off the TT);
Wipe on a coat of untinted shellac (the usual several passes);
Lightly sand or synthetic steel wool it after each coat.

Seq. B:
Start by wiping on a wash coat of tinted shellac;
Use a spray can of Seal Coat to put on a couple of light coats (so I can continue wiping and not disturb the TT washcoat);
Wipe on a coat of untinted shellac (the usual several passes);
Lightly sand or synthetic steel wool it after each coat.

Finishing sequence:
In both cases, I would apply the transparent Crystalac grain filler to accelerate pore filling;
POSSIBLY followed by a Toner coat.
And finish of with a few more coats of shellac.

My question is, am I on the right track with either sequence to both get the darker color and keep the grain?

TIA,
Jim

[Rob Amadon]

Jim,

Any time you use a tinted finish (toner) you will obscure the grain. I like your first schedule. Another possibility is to dye the wood, seal the dye and use a tinted pore filler instead of the clear. You will be surprised how much this can darken the wood.
Another option is to use garnet shellac instead of the lighter seal coat for the body of the finish. Each coat will darken the wood significantly.

Rob

P.S. Don't tell the boss but walnut actually gets lighter with age instead of darker as most woods do.

[Jim Jones]

I can see how repeated applications of the toner might obscure the grain.

However, my one experience with tinted filler wasn't real great. I used Behlens water-based mahogany filler on the bare wood of a mahogany hall/sofa table about a year ago and it was so opaque it really obscured the grain and altered the overall color. I sanded it down completely and ordered the clear Crystalac. It truly was clear and didn't obscure the grain at all. I'm sure my technique wasn't good with the Behlens so I can't blame it on that, but making the adjustment to the Crystalac saved the day for me and resulted in a beautiful table with nice clear finish that allowed the wood to pop quite well.

I will add TransTint dye stain to the Crystalac and try it on a test piece. That might work OK since even with the dye stain it won't be opaque like the Behlens. I'll leave off the toner like you said and see if that will do it.

Thanks for the recommendation.
Jim

[Aaron Cain]

Potassium Dicromate will significantly darken the Walnut without hiding any of the grain. I have used it on a recent project and it looks beautiful. The chemical can be dangerous if you are not careful

good luck
Aaron

[Jim Jones]

Aaron, I have never tried a chemical finish but after a few more finishing projects, maybe I will try something like this.

Using conventional stuff I now have a nice, clear, darker finish that should be dark enough even if it lightens a bit. Hopefully not too much.

Here is what I did:
I applied dye stain of equal parts TransTint Dark Walnut and Red Mahogany in distilled water. On one test piece I rubbed in a light coat of BLO, but omitted it the BLO from another test piece. I sealed the test pieces with two coats of Seal Coat shellac. Then I used Rob's advice and eliminated the toner coats, and applied clear grain filler tinted w equal parts of Dark Walnut and Red Mahogany. Then I wiped on two coats of Seal Coat. The color is very nice and it is very transparent, and not muddy or opaque. The BLO piece may be slightly deeper in the grain but there isn't a lot of difference with the non-BLO piece.

Tomorrow I hope to locate some garnet shellac as Rob suggested and apply a few coats for final finish.

Thanks.
Jim

[Al Killian]

Danish oil works great at darkin the walnut. I built a bed for me son out of it and appleid 4 coats of danish oil. It came out really dark and did not hide the grain.

[Jim Becker]

Jim, do keep in mind that walnut gets lighter over time, unlike many other species such as cherry. Make sure your other half understands that is a property of the species.

[Dennis Peacock]

A really nice "touch" to enhance the natural color of walnut is to apply a 1-1/2 pound cut of Dark Garnet Shellac to the raw walnut after your sanding schedule.