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Finish 2 types of wood to look the same?

Submitted by camjohns on Tue, 11/12/2013 - 18:40

So i realized that my question may be better trying in here, i accidentally put it in wood types section.

can you finish 2 different types of wood on 1 piece of furniture to look the same? if so what types of wood are good for doing that?

thinking about using a hard wood top on a furniture piece, but the rest of the body a different type. (working on planked wood side bar from Ana's plans) didn't know if there was a good hardwood to use with another "cheaper" wood, to get to look the same. Just trying not to break the bank on my new interest in woodworking.

thanks!

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Finishing Support and Advice

katetucker18

Thu, 11/14/2013 - 11:32

I do not believe you can finish 2 types of wood the exact same. An oak hardwood will finish differently than a piece of whitewood pine for example. What you can try which I myself have done with great success, is to build the piece, coat the entire piece with a white bare wood primer first, then you can apply whatever stain you want directly over the primer. This will achieve a nice even finish, and you will not notice different wood types because this technique will cover all woodgrain. If you want to see woodgrain in the finish, you may be in trouble with different types of wood.

Tsu Dho Nimh

Sat, 11/16/2013 - 03:48

I have color-matched new oak to 100-year old pine, so it's definitely possible.

A different approach would be to stain them two distinctly different colors like this:
http://www.rustic-trail.com/Rustic%20Trail%20Pics/desks/DSC03613.JPG

You will have to do some testing on the project wood. The problem will be that the wood will absorb the stain differently ... be sure to use a pre-stain sealant and follow the directions. Instead of brushing on a large quantity and wiping it off after it sits for a while, wipe it ON in thin layers. You can control the color better as you add.

Avoid MAPLE ... it's very hard to stain.

Alder stains very well, "whitewoods" (Ana's favorite - construciton lumber) needs sealing ot ot blotches.

lrsummers

Thu, 09/18/2014 - 11:22

I built a bed one time and used Pine and Douglas Fir, both are similar in color however, the Douglas Fir has pink streaked through it. I took a sample of each wood to Sherwin Williams and they came up with two different stains to apply to each wood. It was a brownish greyish color and the stain for the pink wood had more green in it to cancel out the pink. It worked great and it looks all the same color. They had to keep adding more color to the stain and testing and re coloring and testing until it matched. I really don't think it will every be absolutely perfect since different wood species have different grain textures as well, just stay in the same families and you can get close. =)