Need help finishing Zebrawood

[Andy Kromkamp]

Hi Guys,

I bought some Zebrawood veneer to make some accent wall panelling and I'm having difficulty achieving the look I am hoping for. Ideally I'd like to end up with something like this:



I know I won't be able to match that exactly, but I'm hoping for advise on techniques that will let me darken the overall tone while still keeping that kind of high level of grain contrast?

Thanks!

Andy K.

[Scott Holmes]

That looks a lot more like Wenge than Zebrawood. Maybe it's quartersawn Zebrawood?

Do you have tight contrasting grain like show in the picture?

[Andy Kromkamp]

Its possible it could be wenge - but the picture described it as zebrawood. Yes I have a quartersawn veneer. The grain on my veneer isn't quite as tight as this picture.

I guess I'm wondering how I could achieve that rich brown tone without losing the contrast from the grain. So far I've tried:

- minwax oil based wood stain (result is okay, not great)
- water based aniline wood dye (horrible results - no contrast whatsoever)
- BLO (I really like how the grain pops with this, but the color is too golden)
- Watco Danish Oil (This is the best result so far, particularly with a basecoat of pure BLO)

I'm going to keep applying coats of the danish oil overtop to see how the color and contrast changes. I wanted to try the dark tint of Watco finishing wax but I don't think its available in Canada anymore.

Thanks!

[Scott Holmes]

To get a nice deep color you may want to play around with some de-waxed garnet shellac as your top coat. Mix up a 2# cut from flakes and spray 2 light coats; you are done!

[alex grams]

Ditto on the shellac, that was going to be my suggestion. Or you could also try a tinted topcoat/shellac.

[Steve Jenkins]

You could also try a dye. Use a diluted solution and spray several light coats. The contrast will still be there but overall it will be darker. I did this on an endtable I made. I used a solvent based dye that was called dark walnut and thinnned it 1/2-1/2 with lacquer thinner.

[Andy Kromkamp]

Thanks guys. Would I apply the garnet shellac over BLO and/or some kind of staining/dyeing, or directly? (I guess I can experiment with a sample)

Also is spraying the shellac integral to the result, or can I brush it?

[Andy Kromkamp]

Ordered some dark garnet shellac - should be here for me to try it out on the weekend. I'm thinking at this point the base cost of linseed and then a couple of coats of shellac may give me exactly what I'm looking for - not as dark as above but nice and rich but still good grain contrast.

[Prashun Patel]

You can brush the shellac. I prefer to thin it and wipe it on.
I think y'll get pretty close to yr target with the shellac over BLO.

[Andy Kromkamp]

Thanks. What do you thin it to for wiping - 1# ?

[Prashun Patel]

About 1.5#. I'm not scientific about it: about 1.5oz in 8oz of ethanol

[Andy Kromkamp]

I got my sample shellac flakes last night and picked up some 99% isopropanol from the pharmacy to mix it up. (Denatured ethanol is very difficult to find in canada it seems)

12 hours later and most of the flakes seem to be a gummy mess at the bottom of the bottle, no matter how hard I shake. I've stirred it up a couple times and they still end up settling at the bottom.

How long should I expect this mixing process to take?

[Prashun Patel]

It's been my experience that once it's forms a solid block the easiest way to dissolve (and it will dissolve eventually) is to heat it. Of course, you have to take proper precautions when heating alcohol...

In the future, if you want to do the shake-to-dissolve method, I find it easiest to incorporate the flakes a little at a time, and to shake often before it gums up too badly. With this method, it usually takes me a few hours to get shellac in.

[Andy Kromkamp]

Just put it in a hot water bath?

[Prashun Patel]

Yeah, you can double-boil it. But keep an eye on it.